Winnie the Pooh for President was a marketing campaign for Disneyland in the 1970s.
Those looking for sweeping change in the White House were hilariously heartened as Disneyland celebrated the Winnie the Pooh for President campaign in election years 1972 and 1976. Running under the slogans "Pooh in '72" in 1972 and "Winnie's a Honey of a Candidate" in 1976, Pooh was treated to a ticker-tape parade on Main Street, U.S.A. and appeared in a special stage show with campaign manager Eeyore and press secretary Tigger. His campaign promises may not have included a heffalump in every garage and hunny in every pot, but, if elected, President Pooh would certainly have put a smile on every face.
The original Stars & Stripes finale of the 1972 - 74 run of the Main Street Electrical Parade initially promoted the first campaign of Pooh for President. Tigger and Eeyore both stood on manually pushed, bulbed drums during the unit carrying signs that read, "Vote for Pooh" as well as "Pooh for President."
Coincidentally, Pooh & friends would return to the same unit (retooled as To Honor America) in 1999 during the second Magic Kingdom run of the Electrical Parade at Walt Disney World, though the Presidential campaign angle did not return.
During the second Pooh for President campaign during 1976, a vinyl record was released under the same name as the event. It was released under the Disneyland Records label and sponsored by Sears. It contains a story about Pooh deciding he wants to run for president after discussing with Christopher Robin about presidential elections. The story later goes on by saying how Pooh is going to achieve his goal of being elected with help from Piglet as well as Christopher Robin. A song is also featured, sung by Larry Groce and the Disneyland Children's Sing-Along Chorus.
Years later, in 1994 and 1995, the Magic Kingdom ran a "Mascot of Main Street, U.S.A." election campaign with Pooh running against Captain Hook.
