Presidential Memorabilia
After Theodore Roosevelt won the 1904 election, he stated that he would not be a candidate for President again. However, as the sitting President of the party, he had a strong influence over who the Republicans would nominate in 1908.
William Howard Taft, a close political friend of Roosevelt’s, received the nomination on the first ballot. This stickpin from the archives of the Truman Presidential Library features a portrait photograph of William Howard Taft.
Presidential Preference Primary Ballots, Michigan 1920
-from the Hoover Library
“A Chicken for Every Pot”
This is the advertisement that caused Herbert Hoover’s opponents to state that he had promised voters a chicken in every pot and two cars in every garage during the campaign of 1928. Hoover did not actually make the statement; the report was based on this ad.
-from the Hoover Library
Source: research.archives.gov
The President participated in a briefing on the situation in Afghanistan and the boycot [sic] of the Summer Olympic games in Moscow with members of the U.S. Summer Olympic Team.
Jimmy Carter’s White House Daily Dairy. March 21, 1980. 2:30 pm.
See the official White House Dairy entry here.
Source: jimmycarterlibrary.gov
This happened on Leap Day, 1972: President Nixon meets with China’s Communist Party Leader, Mao Tse- Tung, 02/29/1972
Source: research.archives.gov
Dated February 28th, 1946, this telegram was sent from Ho Chi Minh to President Harry S. Truman, requesting the assistance of the United States government in the negotiations with France.
Letter from Ho Chi Minh to President Harry S. Truman, 02/28/1946
Source: research.archives.gov
Before-the-beard Abe
Here’s something we’re not used to seeing - Abraham Lincoln without the iconic beard. It’s another presidential campaign medallion, intended to be sewn to a lapel through the hole at the top.
This medallion is from the 1860 presidential election. The front displays a portrait of Lincoln; the back shows vice presidential candidate, Hannibal Hamlin.
Shortly after winning the presidency, Lincoln began to grow his beard.
President Lincoln would approve the 13th Amendment that abolished slavery in the US on this day, February 1, 1865.
Toga Birthday for FDR!
Franklin Roosevelt’s harsher critics sometimes compared him to a dictator. In 1934, the President and his staff turned this into a lighthearted joke at FDR’s 52nd birthday party.
The party was held on January 30, 1934 at the White House by members of the Cuff Links Gang, a group of longtime political advisers and friends who joined Roosevelt every year for his birthday. The 1934 party had a “Caesarian” theme, with guests wearing togas and centurion costumes. Suffragette Marion Dickerman, a friend of the Roosevelts, wore a muslin toga costume that’s now at the FDR Library.
In the photo, FDR, as “Caesar,” is surrounded by friends, family members, and close advisers, including Eleanor Roosevelt (as the “Delphic Oracle”). Dickerman is standing at the far right. Just below her is Louis Howe, FDR’s longtime political adviser, dressed as a member of the Praetorian Guard.
This photo will be in exhibit opening this Spring: The Roosevelts: Public Figures, Private Lives.
Happy Birthday Franklin D. Roosevelt
January 30, 1882 - April 12, 1945
Source: fdrlibrary.marist.edu
Life in 1961 will not be easy. Wishing it, predicting it, even asking for it, will not make it so. There will be further setbacks before the tide is turned. But turn it we must.
President John F. Kennedy, State of the Union Address
January 30, 1961
Source: archives.gov
Henry Kissinger and Le Duc Tho shake hands after initialing the Vietnam Peace Agreement - Paris, 1/22/1973. The next day, President Nixon would announce the end of the war.
Source: nixonlibrary.gov
