White House Police Buttons from Nixon Administration Waterbury Connecticut 3/4"

Description

WATERBURY BUTTONS FROM NIXON WHITE HOUSE POLICE UNIFORM    Beautiful goldtone/brass color buttons made by the Waterbury Button Company, circa 1970.
These buttons are believed to be from the newly designed White House Police uniforms under the direction of then President
Richard M. Nixon. Nixon had been impressed with the honor guards uniforms that he had recently seen on his visit to Europe. The new uniforms were unveiled at a State visit by Prime Minister Harold Wilson of Great Britain in early 1970. The police were wearing double breasted white tunics with starred epaulets and gold piping with draped braids and a stovepipe hat with a black patent-leather visor. The White House and President Nixon received so much ridicule from the Democrats and the press and the general public, the new uniforms lasted about two weeks never to be seen again. One rumor has it that the uniforms were given to a high school band. It seems to be a subject not to be talked about as our research turns up very little, and even on Waterburys website, they do not show or mention this button. The Waterbury Button Company has been around since 1812, and today still make thousands of buttons for, not only the fashion industry, but for every branch of the U.S. armed forces, associations, organizations and police departments. At the meeting of General Ulysses S. Grant and General Robert E. Lee at Appomattox Courthouse, both of them were wearing Waterbury buttons on their uniforms.