While checking out the political merch on RetroCampaigns, which features t-shirts bearing political campaign slogans from decades past, I found this “Wings for America” shirt.

Wendell Willkie ran for President against Franklin Roosevelt in 1939 and lost. His campaign is notable because he switched parties in order to do it (from Democrat to Republican) and then became one of Roosevelt’s supporters again after the election. Such civility in the federal government is almost impossible to imagine these days! The airplane on the shirt refers to Willkie’s support for the aviation industry, and the slogan adds a patriotic touch to the image. Willkie famously championed the cause of racial equality and the value of public opinion in several widely broadcast radio addresses–television wasn’t so hot back then–and published a bestselling book about his political experiences called One World.

I have to wonder what happened to the clever slogans that used to appear on electoral campaign buttons and stickers up through the 80s. These days candidates just stick their name on a bunch of promotional products and consider the job done.

Posted on October 30th, 2009 by PoliticalSchwagCollector
Filed under: Uncategorized