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. 

Clinton-Gore-Wellstone Pins

1996 gave collectors an array of coattail pins from President Clinton's re-election effort. As a Wellstone collector I have managed to find several over the years that I include in my collection. This one is perhaps my favorite of the Clinton-Wellstone coattail pins. At 3" inches it really stands out.

There are several others that can be found including,

This set given out at the 1996 Democratic National Convention to the Minnesota Delegation. This photo was from fellow APIC member Paul Bengston's collection. All pins are 2.25" inches.

Another '96 coattail is from the Minnesota State Convention and  is 3" inches. There is another version of this pin that is white and blue and does not have the 'state convention' mention on the face.

This pin is similar to several different Minnesota Clinton pins that use the map of the state with different wording around it.

The last pin, is a rectangular pin and is the only Clinton-Wellstone picture pin that I know of currently.

While it is a neat pin to have, I ultimately think the photo used is a bad one. Do you know of any other Clinton-Wellstone pins from 1996?

Remembering Richard Nixon: Nixon Now! & Mike Curb's Connection to Richard Petty

April 24th marked the 19th year since the passing for President Richard Nixon in 1994. The controversial president had done much in his later years to meet the needs of the role of elder statesman and by late 80s found himself back in the White House, back doing more foreign trips for the Reagan and Bush administrations. Nixon was back. By the early 90s he was even getting along with Democrat Bill Clinton.