Frederick Steiwer Convention Badge 1936

The badge worn by U.S. Senator Frederick Steiwer at the 1936 Republican National Convention has been located and returned to an Oregon collection. The badge is in wonderful condition for being 85 years old. 

Remembering Bob Dole in Oregon

The “Greatest Generation” is described as those Americans that came of age amidst the Great Depression and had their lives altered by World War II. Tom Brokaw popularized the term in his book by the same name. It produced many political leaders across the country. Young men returned home after the war and were recruited to run for office. Many found success and over a hundred of these veterans found their way to service in the U.S. Senate. One of the most prominent of these veterans was Kansas Senator Bob Dole. 

Dole passed away on December 5, 2021, at the age of 98, just two years shy of reaching 100. He had been an influential leader in the Republican party for most of my early life and had run for president three times (1980, 1988, and 1996). I thought it would be good to look back on his campaigns and visits to Oregon through the years. 

Norma Paulus Remembered

Norma Paulus was the first woman to ever be elected to statewide office in Oregon history. 1976 was the first presidential election after Watergate and voters made their feelings known throughout the country about the shenanigans of the Republican Party and President Nixon. President Ford would seek the GOP nomination and have to fend off a strong challenge from California Governor Ronald Reagan.

In Oregon, Republicans had held most statewide offices for decades.  Paulus was elected after Clay Myers had held the position. She would be the last Republican Secretary of State until 2016 when Dennis Richardson was elected. The Oregon Republicans had held the Secretary of State office from 1878 to 1985. Norma Paulus paved the way for women gaining statewide office in Oregon. She won two successful campaigns for Secretary of State and two terms as Oregon's Superintendent of Public Instruction.

WAGONER Who?

Ever come across a button that you have no clue about? For many years I had no idea who Wagoner was. I knew it was an Oregon pin, only because several respected Oregon collectors had it in their collections. I finally found one at the Salem Armory several years ago. I recently found another one this last weekend at a shop in Oregon City. I decided it was time to find answers to who was Wagoner. A few years ago, this wouldn't have been possible. As more and more historical databases and records become available online, more information becomes avaliable to researchers. This time, it was a quick search result of the 1938 Election and Wagoner brought me a quick result. 

The old Oregon index made by the Oregon APIC Chapter in the 1980s noted the name of Clarence R. Wagoner. The first hit was in the online database called Our Campaigns. This is where I found that Wagoner had run in the crowded 1938 Oregon Republican Primary for Governor.

Eventual winner Charles Sprague won the crowded race with 48% of the vote and Wagoner came in a distant third earning 9% of the vote. While this was important to establish the legitimacy of the button, it didn't help me figure out who Wagoner was or what he stood for.

George HW Bush Medford Button

In the heat of the 1992 campaign President George H.W. Bush made one of only three trips to Oregon during his term in the White House. He spoke at a lumber mill to workers from Southern Oregon and California. This was during the height of the 'spotted owl vs workers' debate and the 1992 presidential campaign in Oregon lay open the clear divisions between the urban and rural divide.

Here is some video coverage of the event. Watch NEWS CAST

This trip produced one button.

George HW Bush Letterhead from 1980

The next item this week we are going to present from the campaigns of George Herbert Walker Bush is a sample of letterhead from his 1980 Oregon Primary campaign. I was able to pick this sample up from eBay a couple years ago from a local seller in West Linn, Oregon. The lot came with a sample of the letterhead, envelope and campaign brochure.

Oregon items of George H.W. Bush

There are sure to be lots of tributes and objective analyses  over the next several weeks to the life and legacy of George Herbert Walker Bush. In this post, we will  start to take a look at some of the campaign items originating from Oregon that you can find out there.

George Bush ran three campaigns here in Oregon for President (1980, 1988, and 1992), he was also on the ballot for Vice President in 1980 and 1984. We'll focus on items from his presidential campaigns first then round out with some select Reagan-Bush items from 1980 and 1984.

WRITE-IN MORSE Found

It has been a really slow year for finding new Wayne Morse items. I really haven't picked up much since January. That all changed the other day. I was getting ready to leave the house for a long day of activities and I randomly decided to login to ebay and look for some political items. That's where I stumbled upon this bumper sticker.

Verne Duncan Sale & Items

This weekend I was able to attend the estate sale of Verne and Donna Duncan. They have recently downsized and moved out of their long time residence. I was able to add a few Duncan items I never had the chance to get over the years. Duncan was the longstanding Superntendent of Public Education in Oregon. He was elected in 1974 and served until 1989.

John Dellenback TV Special

Found this great special from SOPTV about highlighting the life of Congressman John Dellenback. You can watch it here

I recently framed up my Dellenback items. The only thing I have that is not pictured here is a red and white Dellenback tab.

Lueddemann RNC Badge

Looking for help from the community on ID'ing G. Lueddemann. He apparently attended the the 1964 Republican National Convention that nominated Senator Barry Goldwater. Was he a delegate? Alternate? Staff? Press? Very curious to find out more information.

Was this person a Goldwater delegate or a delegate pledge to Nelson Rockefeller the winner of the 1964 Oregon Primary?  Goldwater tied for third place in the primary with Richard Nixon who was not an active candidate. Will have to wait for more information.

Helen Cannon Delegate Badge

While taking a trip to the Oregon coast this weekend I stumbled upon a few political items. In one shop, there were some very common 1960s-1970s local Oregon candidate and national presidential buttons. Lot's of Nixon's the One!, Morse, Packwood. Many of the typical pins you might find at antique shops across the state.

In the mix of all these pins was a badge and ribbon pictured below. Still trying to find out more details about Helen Cannon and what event the badge is from exactly. It could be from an Oregon Republican State Convention in 1968 or 1972.

 If you know what event these badges were used from, please leave a comment.

Wyatt Postcard Found

This postcard was recently discovered on ebay.  It is from a campaign of Wendell Wyatt.

Harold Stassen Owned Dewey Item

I have few items in my collection that come with as interesting of a story as this small Thomas Dewey for President foldout brochure.

It is an Oregon Dewey item issued during the 1948 campaign. I have no idea how rare this item is, but even if it was a common item, the place it came from gives it all the significance. APIC member Paul Bengston from Minnesota had a chance to go a sale of former Governor Harold Stassen's storage unit after Stassen passed away.

W.J. Furnish Lapel Stud

Got this W.J. Furnish for Governor lapel stud on the Political Memorabilia Exchange founded by APIC members on facebook. There is a matching button to this lapel stud. Furnish was the 1902 Republican nominee for Governor. He unseated then Governor T.T. Geer and two other opponents at the Republican State Convention in Portland that April. Geer and another candidate withdrew before balloting leaving Furnish and H.E. Ankney to campaign for the votes of delegates.

Mark Hatfield Postcard

Here's a great Mark Hatfield for State Representative postcard from his 1952 campaign that showed up on ebay recently. Pretty neat early career item from Senator Hatfield. The last Hatfield post we put up was about items concerning one of the highest points of his career; when he was considered to be a Vice President in 1968.

Keep on looking. Great stuff is out there to find.

Carl H. Francis Matchbook

This fall I had the great luck of visiting a sale at an estate and purchased the only political item I could find. It was a Carl H. Francis matchbook. It is one of the few items I have for Oregon legislative candidates prior to 1960. Francis was first elected in 1942, and this matchbook could be from any election between 1942 and 1954. In 1956 Francis was elected to the State Senate and served at least 1960. He represented Dayton and surrounding areas of Yamhill County while in the legislature.

1982 Oregon RNC Ribbon

This great ribbon was recently offered up on ebay from a seller in Iowa. It is from the 1892 Republican National Convention held in Minneapolis, Minnesota and given out to Oregon delegates.

Michael Landon Campaigns in Oregon

In the recent Old Politicals auction going on right now there is a special Oregon lot of items from April of 1980. While then Governor Ronald Reagan was campaigning around the country he sent out lots of his friends around the country to stump for him. One of those friends was T.V.'s Michael Landon from Bonanza and Little House on the Prairie fame. Landon and Reagan ran in the same circles from California. Here is a video from later in 1980 before the election at a fundraiser featuring Landon and several other familiar faces.

Tom McCall's Grandads Not Hughes Fans

From Tom Huston Collection

APIC Member Tom Huston recently posted a picture of this book by a Thomas W. Lawson. Oregonians may recognize that name, as Dorothy Lawson McCall's father. He was a rather wealthy man in the era of the Rockefellers and Astors at the start of the 20th Century. He used his wealth to buy a home for his daughter and her husband to raise their kids in Eastern Oregon. One of those kids was future Oregon Governor Tom McCall. Young Tom would travel often between Oregon and Massachusetts to spend time at Thomas Lawson's home and the family ranch in Eastern Oregon. His other grandfather, Samuel W. McCall, happened to be Governor of the Bay State in 1916.