But going through my "stuff" I find that my grandfather also collected some pins and saved them.
I found these two the other day.
These two Presidents, Calvin Coolidge and Herbert Hoover, had the initial good fortune to occupy the office during a period of Conservative power.
My grandfather, by the way, and most of the rest of my family, were and are rock-ribbed Republicans.
Coolidge became president in 1923 when his predecessor, Warren Harding, died of a sudden heart attack.
He then won a landslide victory in 1924.
But he decided not to run for re-election in 1928.
Herbert Hoover ran instead and won.
His legacy was doomed by the Stock Market crash in 1929 and a recession that led to the Great Depression.
But my grandfather stuck with his Republican beliefs.
I wonder what he would think of his grandson (me) who went the other way.
The next one is of a far-left candidate for President of Mexico.
He held many offices in his career but failed in three attempts to seek the presidency.
Another pin shows a different type of politician, if I can call him that.
More of a revolutionary, Che Guevara's face turned up on wall murals, flags, buttons and even tee shirts during his time with Fidel Castro in Cuba.
And finally, there's this guy.
I have no idea where or why I purchased a pin with the image of Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov but there it is.
By the way, it wasn't until he was 31 that he adopted the name "N. Lenin".
The N didn't stand for anything, like the S in Harry S Truman, but a widely held belief was that it stood for Nikolai.
Lenin was a Communist who headed the government of Russia and the Soviet Union after the abdication and assasination of Tsar Nicholas II and his family.
And so, on that bloody note, we end this tour through history.
But there are more buttons ahead.
Stay tuned.
Wow! I love those Coolidge and Hoover pins. I bet they're worth some money. I have some relatively recent political buttons but nothing that old.
ReplyDeleteI think I have some old political buttons of my parents and I remember having a blue button with the dog that was in Sputnik 2. THAT was a sad story . . . Great collection! Easy to save because they don't take up much space. Now I'll have to go looking. Bruce! You are probably sitting on a gold mine! Check eBay out.
ReplyDeleteNone of the 'top three' of the Russian revolution, Lenin, Trotsky and Stalin used their given names. Not sure about the other Soviet leaders of that time.
ReplyDeleteThose are some pretty cool pins. Looking forward to more.
ReplyDeleteRock ribbed Republicans, remember them well as opposed to today's rock headed Republicans.
ReplyDeleteVery cool buttons. I went the other way, my father was a democrat until the day he died. Although he voted for Trump a juxtaposition that I never understood. I was a Republican for many, many years and then somewhere between 2004 and 2008 I decided that what they stood for and what I believed were going in different directions and headed toward Independent with very moderate leanings. Although I accidentally registered to vote with the Green party up here when I decided to leave the Republicans. I don't get nearly as many robocalls or annoying emails as my wife does, so I haven't bothered to change things.
ReplyDeleteThose are such cool buttons and quite a walk down a family political memory lane.
ReplyDeleteOf the pins I have, most are flags.
ReplyDeleteThat is a great collection! Especially those elephants.
ReplyDeleteCool! This might just be the ONE THING my husband doesn't collect.
ReplyDeleteThe elephant pins are nice. They can be bought on line asking $14. I would have thought more.
ReplyDeleteThat is quite a collection of pins. The Coolidge and Hoover pins are really great.
ReplyDeleteI remember when there wasn't that much difference between the parties or the sides. The dualism is frightening. Traditional conservatism is a valid stance. But the current political entity seems to be a corrupt and criminal institution, at the top certainly.
ReplyDeleteWow! That's quite a collection. I've never owned a political pin or bumper sticker.
ReplyDelete