Barry Goldwater Dashboard Doll

"I don't care if it rains or freezes, long as I got my plastic..."-Barry Goldwater? Capitalizing on interest in the 1964 presidential campaign, toy manufacturer Remco Industries, Inc., created dashboard dolls of the two main candidates, Democrat Lyndon Johnson and Republican Barry Goldwater. The dolls were virtually identical except for the faces and the initials on their lapel pins. Fortunately for American voters, however, the candidates were worlds apart. After assuming the presidency in the wake of John F. Kennedy's assassination in November 1963, Johnson inaugurated his "Great Society" agenda, ushering in major civil rights bills, anti-poverty legislation, and a tax cut. Goldwater, on the other hand, had developed a reputation as an archconservative Republican, opposing the Civil Rights Movement and Johnson's anti-poverty legislation. An ardent anti-Communist and supporter of Joseph McCarthy during the 1950s, Goldwater also hinted that he favored the use of nuclear weapons against Communists in Vietnam. Although Goldwater's positions earned him some support in the South, Johnson's success after just one year in office helped him win handily in a landslide victory, with an unprecedented 61% of the popular vote.