{{Short description|American politician}} {{Infobox officeholder |name = Daniel Evan Button |image = Daniel E Button.jpg |state = New York |district = 29th |party = Republican Party |term_start = January 3, 1967 |term_end = January 3, 1971 |preceded = Leo W. O'Brien |succeeded = Samuel S. Stratton |birth_date = {{birth date|1917|11|01}} |birth_place = Dunkirk, New York, U.S. |death_date = {{death date and age|2009|03|07|1917|11|01}} |death_place = Delmar, New York, U.S. |resting_place = Albany Rural Cemetery, Menands, New York |spouse = Rebecca Pool<ref>{{cite news |date=16 January 1967 |title=N.Y. GOP Rep. Button At Jaycee Lunch Thursday |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-news-journal-button/172923689/ |work=The News Journal |location=Wilmington, Delaware |page=3 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><br/>Rena Posner<ref name="Times2009"/> |children = 5<ref name="Times2009"/> |alma_mater = University of Delaware <br/>Columbia University |profession = Journalist }} '''Daniel Evan Button''' (November 1, 1917 &ndash; March 7, 2009) was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from New York from 1967 to 1971.

A native of Dunkirk, New York, Button graduated from Wilmington High School in Delaware in 1933 and the University of Delaware in 1938. He received a master's degree from Columbia University in 1939. Button worked as a journalist and university public relations representative in Delaware and New York.

In 1966, Button was elected to Congress, and he won reelection in 1968. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1970, after which he resumed his journalism career and authored several books.

==Early life== Daniel E. Button was born in Dunkirk, New York on 1 November 1917.<ref name="Directory2005">{{cite book |author=Joint Committee On Printing, U.S. Congress |date=2005 |title=Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774-2005 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v9MBIctdjjkC&pg=PA760 |location=Washington, DC |publisher=US Government Printing Office |page=760 |isbn=978-0-16-073176-1 |via=Google Books}}</ref> He graduated from Delaware's Wilmington High School in 1933.<ref name="Directory2005"/> In 1938, he received his A.B. degree from the University of Delaware. In 1939, he received his M.A. from Columbia University.<ref name="Directory2005"/> He wrote for the ''Wilmington Morning News'' and the Associated Press from 1943 until 1947, when he turned to public relations at the University of Delaware.<ref name="Directory2005"/> After this, he was assistant to the president of the State University of New York from 1952 until 1958.<ref name="Directory2005"/> He was executive editor of the Albany Times-Union from 1960 until 1966.<ref name="Directory2005"/>

==Congress== Button was elected to Congress in 1966 as a Republican in a heavily Democratic district centered around Albany and Schenectady and served from January 3, 1967, until January 3, 1971.<ref name="Directory2005"/> Button first ran for the seat vacated by Democrat Leo W. O'Brien in 1966 and was reelected to a second term in 1968.<ref name="Rudin">{{cite news |last=Rudin |first=Ken |date=20 March 2009 |title=Farewell To Button ... And Hello To Buttons! |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/politicaljunkie/2009/03/farewell_to_button_and_hello_t.html/ |work=NPR |location=Washington, DC |access-date=22 May 2025}}</ref> However, a mid-decade redistricting ahead of the 1970 elections made his district even more heavily Democratic and drew the home of Democratic congressman and former Schenectady mayor Samuel S. Stratton into Button's district.<ref name="Rudin"/> By 1970, he had become an outspoken critic of the Vietnam War.<ref name="Record2009">{{cite news |agency=Associated Press |date= 7 March 2009 |title=Former Congressman Dan Button dies at 91 |url=https://www.recordonline.com/story/news/2009/03/08/former-congressman-dan-button-dies/52072456007/ |work=Times Herald-Record |location=Middletown, New York |access-date=22 May 2025}}</ref> However, this was not enough to overcome the heavy partisan lean of his new district, and he was routed in the general election.<ref name="Rudin"/>

==Later career== He was president of the Arthritis Foundation from 1971 to 1975 and editor of the national consumer magazine ''Science Digest'' from 1976 to 1980.<ref name="Directory2005"/><ref name="Record2009"/> He wrote a 1965 study of John V. Lindsay, ''Lindsay: A Man for Tomorrow'', and also published ''Take City Hall'' about Albany politics (2003).<ref name="Times2009">{{cite news |agency=Associated Press |date=9 March 2009 |title=Daniel Button, Editor and Lawmaker, Is Dead at 91 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/10/nyregion/10button.html?_r=0 |work=The New York Times |location=New York |via=TimesMachine}}</ref> Button also authored a biography of Albany mayor Thomas Michael Whalen III, and wrote editorial's for Delmar's ''The Spotlight'' newspaper.<ref name="Grondahl">{{cite news |last=Grondahl |first=Paul |date=5 November 2016 |title=Recalling Button's '66 defeat of Albany's machine |url=https://www.timesunion.com/tuplus-local/article/Recalling-Button-s-66-defeat-of-Albany-s-machine-10595923.php |work=Times Union |location=Albany, New York |access-date=22 May 2025}}</ref> From 1994 to 2003 he was executive assistant to the president of the Commission on Independent Colleges and Universities in New York State.<ref name="Grondahl"/>

In retirement, Button was a resident of Delmar.<ref name="Directory2005"/> He died at Albany Medical Center in Albany, New York on March 7, 2009.<ref name="Record2009"/> Button was buried at Albany Rural Cemetery in Menands, New York, Section 118, Plot 1051.<ref>{{cite web |date=21 February 2020 |title=New York Death Records, Albany Rural Cemetery |url=https://www.interment.net/data/us/ny/albany/albrural/albany-rural-cemetery-records-bu-by.htm |website=Interment.net |location=Menifee, California |publisher=Clear Digital Media, Inc. |access-date=22 May 2025}}</ref>

==Sources== {{CongBio|B001201}}

==References== <references/>

{{s-start}} {{s-par|us-hs}} {{US House succession box | state=New York| district=29 | before=Leo W. O'Brien | after= Samuel S. Stratton | years=1967&ndash;1971 }} {{s-end}} {{USCongRep-start|congresses= 90th-91st United States Congress |state=New York}} {{USCongRep/NY/90}} {{USCongRep/NY/91}} {{USCongRep-end}} {{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Button, Daniel E}} Category:1917 births Category:2009 deaths Category:Columbia University alumni Category:People from Dunkirk, New York Category:University of Delaware alumni Category:Republican Party United States representatives from New York (state) Category:People from Bethlehem, New York Category:20th-century New York (state) politicians Category:20th-century United States representatives Category:Burials at Albany Rural Cemetery