Yesterday, I came across an eBay auction that sparked my curiosity.* The seller has two political campaign buttons: one of Millard Fillmore (left) and one of someone he thinks is Andrew Jackson Donelson (right).
The Fillmore button is correctly identified, but the other button does not depict Donelson, who looked like this in 1856:
The man does look familiar, though.** My first thought was that it was John C. Fremont (because of the beard), but, no:
Once someone posts the answer, I’ll have an “aha!” moment and kick myself for not matching a face with a name, so here’s your chance to show me up.
* Disclaimer: I don’t know the seller, and this post is not an advertisement to bid.
** I’m envisioning him as a northerner with antislavery ties, but I could be completely wrong.
Jacksonian America: Society, Personality, and Politics 
Could it be Stephen Douglas? This political cartoon (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Forcing_Slavery_Freesoilers_Throats.jpg) suggests Douglas did experiment with a beard for a while, but I’ve never actually seen a photo of him with a beard.
Interesting. I’ll have to see if I can find another Douglas photograph with a beard.
Yeah, I saw that cartoon in a textbook once, and I was surprised. Unless it is just supposed to represent an “unshaven” look, the way political cartoons always depicted Joseph McCarthy or Richard Nixon with five o’clock shadow.
Hmm. His run as VP in 1852 would seem to fit the need for a campaign button, and there appear to be some physical similarities, but the age doesn’t seem right. This LC image also suggests that it isn’t Graham:
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/cph.3b51050/. Thanks (and thank your colleague) for the suggestion.
A colleague of mine suggests William Alexander Graham: http://hd.housedivided.dickinson.edu/node/5767