Panini Presidents

I posted some of the 2015 Topps Archives Presidential Chronicles cards last month which led to a comment about these, the Presidents subset from 2012 Panini Americana.

Now I consider myself a 'penny-pinching presidential collector'. There is no way I'm going to spend what it takes to get an original Lincoln campaign ribbon for example, or an authentic LBJ signature. Those are two items I'd just love to have but won't pull the trigger on. 

But when it comes to my presidential collecting I love cards, cheap campaign pins and other knick-knacks. These cards were cheap, and they are really pretty nice. Black and white photos seem to suit a set like this. The gold presidential seal and the red/white/blue logo give them just enough color. A couple of the pics used are definitely too familiar but others are new to me.

Every President (and a couple of First Ladies) is included in the subset. The rest of the full base set comprises a weird mix of track athletes, women soccer players, astronauts, the Tuskeegee Airmen and heaven knows what else. But all I'm interested in is the Presidents.

I pulled and scanned the eight Chief Executives that I'm most interested in. 

Honest Abe......IMHO our greatest president. 

Teddy Roosevelt....maybe the most interesting guy to ever occupy the office. I've read five or six books about him in the last couple of years and I still haven't tired of him.

JFK, my first hero (outside of Johnny Unitas I guess).

LBJ....my favorite president. A man of great strengths and great (maybe greater) flaws. I love this photo of him.

Richard Nixon..... he let his paranoia overwhelm his genius.

Gerald Ford.... seems to me to have been the nicest guy to ever serve as President, at least in my lifetime. I'd have loved to have met him to find out.

Bill Clinton...another very smart man who did some very dumb things.

Barack Obama...not the best picture of the bunch but it kind of shows the stress that comes with dealing with the political world today.

How's that for a "no politics" rundown of political guys?

About the same time I was buying these I came across a couple of other items that fit neatly into my collection but didn't kill my budget. One is a JFK pennant. Purports to be authentic but condition (nice) and price (cheap) left me with some doubts. I have it on my wall and it's a nice item either way.

The other is an souvenir LBJ pen. The seller speculated that it came from the White House gift shop but did that sort of thing even exist back then? It might have come from the LBJ Library gift shop but no matter the origin it makes a nice addition to my Johnson collection.

Sorry for the oversized photos.