By GREGORY ZELLER //
Buttons, banners and a treasure trove of memorabilia recalling some of the most influential chapters in American history highlight a new Long Island University exhibit tracking the course of U.S. Presidential campaigns.
Titled “Hail to the Chief: Electing the American President,” the exhibit – more than 250 years in the making – is a bounty for history buffs (yes, that’s an actual bottle of Goldwater Aftershave and a can of real circa-1960s Johnson Juice, labeled “a drink for health care”).
It’s also a unique teaching tool for the LIU Roosevelt School, which was launched in 2021 by the Brookville-based university to prepare collegians for leadership careers in international relations, diplomacy and corporate policymaking.
Evoking eras when 24-hour news cycles, virtual town halls and social media rants were not yet basic components of the national-election playbook, “Hail to the Chief” – curated by the Museum of Democracy, which hosts a permanent exhibit in Brookville as part of the university’s White House Experience – is packed with campaign swag tracing dozens of Presidential campaigns, including brass garment buttons commemorating President George Washington’s 1789 inauguration, banners touting the re-election of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and “I Like Ike” stickers supporting the candidacy of President Dwight Eisenhower.
Kimberly Cline: Future history.
Matchbooks demanding “Nixon Now,” license plates praising President Lyndon Johnson and dozens of campaign buttons – even buttons promoting runners-up like Barry Goldwater, Hubert Humphrey and George McGovern – also make the cut, along with newspaper clippings and further documentation reporting major issues and events from throughout U.S. history (including the infamous, erroneous “Dewey Defeats Truman” front page from the Nov. 3, 1948, issue of the Chicago Daily Tribune).
By remembering how hearts and minds were won in the days before robocalls and Truth Social bluster, “we can educate and inspire the next generation of our nation’s leaders as they learn lessons from history to shape solutions for America’s future,” according to Long Island University President Kimberly Cline.
“Hail to the Chief” is hosted by The Roosevelt School, which was established in part by Tweed Roosevelt, a great-grandson of President Theodore Roosevelt, CEO of the Theodore Roosevelt Association and recognized public-policy and civic-engagement expert.
It adds to the political-science school’s comprehensive presidential pedigree, which already includes the White House Experience – one of four nationwide White House replicas, featuring a mock Oval Office, a simulated Situation Room and a pretend Press Briefing Room.
Current situation: Students get into crisis mode in the White House Experience “Situation Room.”
More than just a cosplay playground, the White House Experience is designed to give visiting K-12 students an opportunity to stand in as the U.S. President and members of his/her staff, with ready-made “crises” ready to confront them.
Like the White House simulator, “Hail to the Chief” is meant to help visitors better understand the weight and responsibility of the highest office in the land.
And as America hurtles toward another highly digitized – and exceedingly contentious – Presidential election, a review of the eye-catching and persuasive methods candidates and parties employed back in the day is both refreshing and critically important, according to Cline.
“The establishment of the Roosevelt School in 2021 and our hosting the Museum of Democracy at Long Island University reflects our ongoing commitment to serve as a leading institution for civic education and Presidential history,” the LIU president added.
