Celluloid type; top one third red, bottom two thirds blue; three white stars on top border; white slogan "SUPPORT PRESIDENT CARTER in 1980"; lower curl marked "N.G. SLATER COPR., N.,Y.C.; union "bug"; hollow back, pin back.
Jimmy Carter was the 39th President of the United States. In 1979, right in the middle of Carter's presidency, Soviet troops invaded Afghanistan. Late January of 1980, Carter declared that the United States would boycott the Olympics- scheduled to take place later that year in Moscow- if the troops had not withdrawn from Afghanistan in one month's time. Carter placed pressure on NATO to back his boycott and was shamed by the International Olympics Federations, telling Carter that the only victims in this situation were the athletes. Though a few countries fully joined in with the boycott, others such as United Kingdom, Australia, and France supported the boycott but left the decision of participation up to the athletes. While the athletes from these countries were allowed to participate, they were not featured in the opening or closing ceremonies and were not allowed to compete under their national flag. The next Summer Olympics took place in 1984 in Los Angeles, California. There was a boycott to these summer games as well, but this time it was led by the Soviet Union because of "Chauvinistic sentiments and anti-soviet hysteria". Fourteen countries joined in the boycott against the United States, including Iran and Albania, the only two countries that also boycotted the Moscow Olympics.
