Metal clickers, sometimes called crickets, had been a familiar toy and advertising gimmick for many years before they became a popular giveaway in the 1960 presidential campaign. “Click with Dick” seemed a natural rhyme for the Republican nominee, Richard “Dick” Nixon, and appeared on a variety of metal toys and in a campaign song:
Come on and click with Dick!
The one that none can lick
He’s the man to lead the U.S.A.
In Dick we have the one,
who truly gets things done,
Ev’ry time he has the say,
He’s a man of peace and reason,
On the job in ev’ry season;
But he knows how to fight
when he is sure he’s right,
So let’s all click with Dick!
Nixon supporters did not make quite enough noise. Even though he carried more states than his Democratic opponent John F. Kennedy, Nixon lost in the Electoral College and lost the popular vote nationwide by less than two tenths of one percentage point.
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