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.

Vintage Wyden Lawn Sign

I normally try to avoid lawn signs. They are bulky, many don't display well, and they take up a lot of limited storage space. Still, on occasion, someone will mention to me 'hey Carl, I've got this old sign do you want it?' and I will usually say yes just to see the sign.

Most of us know lawn signs as either these hard rigid plastic things that just have the name of the candidate on them. Or they are disposable plastic bag signs that you can toss in the recycle after the campaign. Lawn signs use to be a big deal. They were made locally out wood, particle wood or other tough materials. Often, they were hand painted. When a friend asked me if I wanted an old Ron Wyden lawn sign, I wasn't sure what I was getting. I was glad I said YES!

Patrick Lucey visits Oregon

In the fall of 1980, two weeks after accepting the nomination of Vice President on Congressman John Anderson's Unity Ticket, former Wisconsin Governor Patrick Lucey made a campaign swing through Oregon. Lucey was a Democrat. Anderson a Republican. Together they felt they could make some changes worthy of votes in the November 1980 elections.

Patrick Lucey passed away this past week and I just realized I had one Oregon button from the Anderson-Lucey campaign.

Charles Jordan Remembered

Over the weekend former Portland City Commissioner Charles Jordan passed away. Jordan was appointed to his seat in 1974 and was elected to a full term that May. He faced 14 opponents in the primary. Over 98,000 votes were cast and Jordan managed to grab over 30,000 of them. His nearest challenger, Gene Anderson, took just over 10,000 votes. Both men would face off in the November General Election. Jordan would come out on top again over Anderson. He would be elected to serve on the commission with future Mayor Frank Ivancie, and Auditor Mildred Schwab.

Here is a bumper sticker from that first primary campaign in 1974.

The 'new face' was a creative take on two different aspects of his appointment. First, that he was already on the city council and that he was first African American to serve and be elected in Portland on the council.

Reagan Campaigns in Oregon Birthday Edition

Former President Ronald Reagan turns 103 this year. 2014 marks the tenth year from his passing. He was the first U.S. President to pass away in the 21st century and it happened right during a presidential election. President Bush was overseas in Paris at the time and Democratic nominee John Kerry suspended his campaign until after the funeral. It was the first state funeral I had ever had the chance to see as it was happening. President Nixon was the last President to pass away during my lifetime and had refused a state funeral.

OR Reagan pin

My Reagan collection is very small, maybe not even 100 items. Reagan does manage to fit into several of my collecting interests. His gubernatorial items are always nice, as they fit into my celebrity political collection and then of course his Oregon items. Reagan was also the first President to visit a Star Trek set so that fits down into my Star Trek collection. Today we're going to focus on his Oregon campaign relics. APIC member Winston Blair I think has one of the most well documented modern Ronald Reagan collections.

It may be surprising to many that the same Oregon that voted twice for Barack Obama; for John Kerry; for Al Gore; twice for Bill Clinton and even gave 7 electoral votes for Micheal Dukakis also twice picked Ronald Reagan for President. It's been 28 years since Reagan won Oregon. He was the last national Republican to do so. George W. Bush has come the closest to carrying Oregon. He was 6700 some odd votes shy of beating Al Gore in 2000.

Joan Mondale Remembered

1984 pin

Joan Mondale passed away on Monday. She was a veteran of three presidential campaigns, various statewide campaigns for U.S. Senator and Attorney General of Minnesota. She herself was never a candidate, she just ended up marrying Walter 'Fritz' Mondale, who would himself seek the White House in 1984.

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.