The "Comeback Kid" Earns His Nickname: The Election of 1996

After the mid term Congressional elections in 1994 which saw the Republicans take back control of the House of Representatives, many voters thought this indicated that Clinton would have a hard time winning re-election in 1996. Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and Congressional Republicans issued a "Contract with America" that promised to work on cutting big government and making Congressmen responsible to the American people. Former Kansas Senator Bob Dole was nominated to represent the Republicans in the election taking on Bill Clinton, trying for a second term. Jack Kemp of New York was chosen to run with Dole on the ticket. At 73 years old, Dole would become one of the oldest men to ever run for the high office. Clinton managed to make Dole look to be influenced by Gingrich and told the American people that programs like Social Security and Medicare would be cut under a Dole presidency. Also, Clinton's experience and youthful appearance didn't hurt. One thing going against Clinton was that no Democrat since Franklin Roosevelt in 1936 had won re-election, so history was against Clinton. However, Clinton performed well in the debates and lead in most polls all the way up to election day. In the end, Clinton was too much for Dole, and carried 50% of the popular vote and won 31 states to Dole's 19, giving him an easy victory in the Electoral College. Clinton's second term would become controversial, especially with his personal life and the Monica Lewinsky scandal, eventually being Impeached by the House but acquitted in the Senate. As far as the world and the standard of living under the Clinton administration, life seemed to be good. The economy in the United States did real well in the late 1990's and the government even ran a surplus for a few years. Clinton also became involved in foreign affairs, sending troops to Kosovo and  starting a bombing campaign in Iraq against Saddam Hussein. Even though Clinton lost a lot of the more moderate base of the Democratic party after the sex scandals, he remained very popular, especially in later years with some of his humanitarian causes, such as the Clinton Global Initiative. Campaign items from this election are fairly common and easy to find, especially Clinton-Gore word pins and Dole-Kemp pins. Even close to 80% of all Clinton and Dole picture buttons are worth under $10. I have pictured some buttons from the election that are my favorite. There are sunflower references on Dole items because of him being from Kansas, and also, Alf Landon, the Republican candidate in 1936, was from Kansas. The green Dole/Kemp button is a huge 9" pin. The cyclone Dole pin is a little more rare. All the Clinton items pictured are not to rare, but the one with Clinton and all the Democratic presidents is also 9" and is a little more rare. Finally is the Clinton/Gore Sons of the New South button, playing on the fact that Clinton was from Arkansas and Gore from Tennessee, this button is more rare than most Clinton buttons.This was a great election to start collecting due to the number of buttons made and the ease of access to finding them.