"I Like Ike" and so does most of the country

As the Korean War dragged on and a recession hit the United States in the early 1950's, Harry Truman's popularity had weakened, opening the door for a Republican to be elected for the first time since 1928 to the White House. Truman was still eligible to run, since he had only been elected to one term, but decided against it. Instead, the Democrats eventually decided on Governor Adlai Stevenson of Illinois. The Republicans had a good chance to win the White House if they could find the right candidate. On that note, it was not clear who would win the nomination for the GOP, as popular war hero Dwight D. Eisenhower faced off against Ohio Senator Robert Taft, William H. Taft's son. During the primaries, it was neck and neck, and heading to the convention, it was still unclear who would win. After some dealing and promises by Eisenhower to do things that Taft wanted, the Republicans settled on Eisenhower. Some of the campaign issues for the Republicans involved attacking the Truman administration for the lack of preparedness for the Korean War and lack of protection in Latin America. They also accused the Democrats of harboring communists. Stevenson and the Democrats warned of returning to the days of Hoover and for extremism as in the case of Joseph McCarthy. California senator Richard Nixon was chosen to run with Eisenhower. The slogan, "I Like Ike" was widely used and became very popular across the country. Shortly before the election, some financial irregularities appeared for Richard Nixon, but he made a speech on national television, latter dubbed the "Checkers" speech, and made Nixon very popular. On election day, the popular Eisenhower won 55% of the popular vote and carried 39 of the 48 states, winning a decisive electoral college victory. Ike's first term was full of action, starting with putting an end to the Korean War in mid 1953. Eisenhower also signed into law the Interstate Highway System, one of his greatest achievements. Campaign items for this election are some of the most popular and affordable of all elections. Any "I Like Ike" word pin can be very easy to find and often just for a few dollars, since so many were made. Even some common Eisenhower and Nixon jugate buttons can also be relatively cheap. Some of the more scarce buttons are Inauguration Day jugates or specific event or location buttons, and some buttons showing Ike smiling or a face image that's not common. There are many examples of Eisenhower items besides buttons, such as china, music, posters, cigarette packs, hats, brochures, umbrellas, clothing, and much more. For Adlai Stevenson items, the same is true, with word pins being very common and affordable, and most single picture buttons as well. Some of the Stevenson jugates are more rare, but other items like posters or other paper items are not real expensive. I have included a riker mount case of Ike buttons, a group of Stevenson buttons, a piece of sheet music for Eisenhower, and a pennant from Ike's 1953 Inauguration. I also have some other items like china and some more 3-D items, which I will include in a later blog on non-button items.