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BARRY M. GOLDWATER – REPUBLICAN
Barry Goldwater began his political career in 1949 when he was forty years old with an appointment to the Phoenix, Arizona City Council. Three years later he was elected to the United States Senate, where his conservatism and anti-Communist positions made him the leader of the American right. Goldwater was a Presidential hopeful in 1960 and by 1964 his followers controlled important state delegations. Despite opposition from New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller, who represented “mainstream” Republicans, Goldwater won a crucial victory in the California primary and then defeated Pennsylvania Governor William Scranton’s last minute effort to win the nomination. Goldwater selected New York Congressman William Miller, a fellow conservative who lacked national prominence, as his running mate.
Goldwater’s object was to offer the voters “A choice, not an echo,” and the favorite campaign slogan was “In Your Heart You Know He’s Right.” However, Goldwater was called an “extremist” and most voters did not share his views that the Vietnam War should be escalated at any cost until victory was achieved. During the campaign it was Lyndon Johnson who appeared to be the “dove” on the war issue, and he constantly reminded votes of Goldwater’s alleged readiness to use nuclear weapons if necessary to win the war. Many votes that went to Johnson were in fact simply anti-Goldwater votes. Johnson won the election with sixty-one percent of the popular vote.
The Goldwater proponents issued an incredible number of unusual campaign items. Most capitalized on his name, written as the chemical equation for gold and water - AuH²0. Other items featured his heavy black rim glasses. There were cans of soda called “Goldwater” and small metal elephants wearing black glasses. A number of small jugates were issued and also a good variety of single picture buttons. Not since the McKinley and Bryan campaign of 1896 was there such an imaginative selection of campaign items produced to appeal to the voters. At the present, the great majority of Goldwater items sell for less than twenty dollars but rarities can exceed one thousand dollars. The novelty items make this campaign very unusual compared to other recent campaigns, and it is to be expected that these items will increase in price as they become older and collectors come to appreciate them.
Taken (and revised) from The Encyclopedia of Political Buttons 1896-1972 by Ted Hake.
Hake's Americana & Collectibles
Barry Goldwater Memorabilia Available For Sale |
