Pinback button opposing Richard Nixon for vice president, 1956. Litho.
At the Republican convention in 1956, there was a movement, led by Harold Stassen, to dump Vice President Richard Nixon from Dwight Eisenhower's reelection ticket. When Nixon's nomination went to the floor for a vote, it was unanimous except for one delegate from Nebraska, who placed the fictitious name "Joe Smith" on the ballot as a protest. After the convention, the campaign of Democrat Adlai Stevenson seized upon this and transformed "Joe Smith" into an anti-Nixon slogan.
