The Best Presidential Campaign Slogans

By | September 27, 2018

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A 1952 campaign button supporting Dwight D Eisenhower, the Republican candidate for President in the election. (Photo by MPI/Getty Images)

As much as we may dread election time because of all the negative ads on television, we have to give props to some of the candidates of the past who came up with some clever and memorable campaign slogans. These slogans, which appeared on buttons, pins, banners and t-shirts, helped to attract favorable attention to the candidate. Some were successful and others were not…but they can all be remembered as some of the best presidential campaign slogans. 

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Franklin Pierce

We Polked You in “44, We Shall Pierce You In ‘52

Oh, my! This campaign slogan may not pass the standards of today, but in the mid-1800s, it was a clever take on the last names of two important gentlemen. James K. Polk, a Democrat, was the U.S. president in 1844 but was beaten by a Whig, Zachary Taylor, in the next election, in 1948. The Democrats sought to re-take the White House in 1952 and wanted to remind voters of the success of Polk’s presidency. They evoked his name and the new candidate’s name…Franklin Pierce…in the campaign slogan, “We Polked you in ’44. We Shall Pierce You in ‘52”. The campaign was a success and Pierce was elected the fourteenth president of the United States.