Button

Status

Not on view

Label Text

George Washington's inauguration as president of the United States inspired the manufacture of commemorative clothing buttons with patriotic designs. On this button, the central device of Washington's initials surrounded by the salute "Long Live the President" is enclosed within a chain of thirteen links representing the states. The "linked states" design was first used to represent American unity on currency issued by the Continental Congress in 1776. The combination of Washington's cipher and the chain of states visually testifies to the importance of a strong executive for the nation's government.

See also the "linked states" design of "A Display of the United States of America," SC-4.

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Datec. 1789-1797

Geography Made - United States

Medium/TechniqueCopper alloy

DimensionsOverall: 5/16 in. x 1 3/8 in. x 1 3/8 in. (0.79 cm x 3.51 cm x 3.51 cm)

Credit LineGift of Mrs. Lewis William Washington, Vice Regent for West Virginia, 1893

Object numberW-547

DescriptionCircular brass button; script monogram "GW" within a circle at the center of the face surrounded by a ring on which is the stamped motto "Long Live the President" followed by a small cross ornament; around the edge of the face is an endless chain of thirteen links, each composed of a dotted line, and each enclosing the initials of one of the thirteen states, with "NH" in the twelve o'clock position; plain edge; blank reverse with wire eye set in metal.
Published ReferencesJames C. Rees, Treasures from Mount Vernon: George Washington Revealed (Mount Vernon, Virginia: Mount Vernon Ladies Association, 1999), 112.

J. Harold Cobb, George Washington Inaugural Buttons and Medalets ed. Kirk Mitchell and Elmer A. Piercy (Private printing, 2005), 18. http://moscow2.pld.com/kirk/CobbGW/index.html (general reference)

Russell Rulau and George Fuld, Medallic Portraits of Washington (Iola, Wisconsin: Krause Publications, Inc., 1999), 245. (general reference)

Edmund B. Sullivan, American Political Badges and Medalets (Lawrence, Massachusetts: Quarterman Publications, Inc., 1981), 1. (general reference)

Alphaeus Albert, Washington Historical Buttons (Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1949), 42. (general reference)

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