A vintage promotional color lithographic poster, Id Rather Be Red Than Dead, 1965. Titled in the print upper to the center. Marked and copyright The Old School Inc. Chicago, Ill., lower right. The poster promotes the positive idea that the right to a peaceful existence is more important than political affiliation or ethnic background. The anti Communist catch phrase, Better dead than Red, was much in evidence during Barry Golwaters 1964 presidential campaign, but the steep escalation of the Vietnam War in the later 1960s led to increasing student protest. Over the same decade, battles for civil rights centred on the African American population, but also highlighted the cause of the Native Americans. The word red is a double entendre, referring to the pride of the Native Americans in their own indigenous identity, yet also encoding a protest against hawkish anti-communism, and possibly the build up of nuclear weapons, during the Cold War. Vintage Historical and Political Posters, Graphic Art Prints and Collectibles.