Butler Campaign Paperweight, 1884
notes: label: Description
content: Benjamin Butler was one of the most unique politicians in 19th century America, jumping from party to party and cause to cause. He often presented himself as a populist ally of working people, and African-Americans, against the wealthy forces that dominated Gilded Age America. To some, he symbolized the effort to expand the money supply, to help poor people, and to limit monopolies. To others, he was a demagogue who merely wanted office. Though he was successful in his home state of Massachusetts, as governor and congressman, he never won the presidency or the support of many voters nationwide, losing in his bid for the presidency in 1884 as the presidential nominee for the Greenbacker party, to both Grover Cleveland and James G Blaine.
topic: label: general subject association
content: Political Campaigns
setName: label: See more items in
content: Political History: Political History, Campaign Collection
label: See more items in
content: Government, Politics, and Reform
label: See more items in
content: American Democracy: A Great Leap of Faith
label: Exhibition
content: American Democracy
label: Exhibition Location
content: National Museum of American History
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Ralph E. Becker Collection of Political Americana
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: PL.227739.1884.O01
label: catalog number
content: 227739.1884.O01
label: accession number
content: 227739
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Paperweight
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: metal (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 3 1/4 in x 2 1/2 in x 1/2 in; 8.255 cm x 6.35 cm x 1.27 cm