On the Button

So there's this story about Walt Disney that is often told; that when he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Lyndon Johnson in 1964, Walt wore a little Goldwater button to the ceremony. He was supporting L.B.J.'s opponent and this was his way of tweaking the president or showing lack of support or something. Back in this post, I joined historian Michael Barrier in expressing skepticism that it happened. I think we're all correct to be skeptical about anecdotes that cast Walt Disney in a rude or negative light but this one seems to have actually occurred. In this essay, Barrier delves deep into the matter and decides that the reports are essentially true. It still seems like a childish and silly thing for Walt to have done but I guess he did that childish and silly thing.

P.S. The Snopes website, which is usually one-stop-shopping when it comes to knocking down urban legends and spurious Internet reports, doesn't believe the story. I'll bet they change the listing now that Barrier has come around.