Dick Button

Richard Totten Button was born in Englewood, New Jersey on July 18, 1929, to businessman George Button and his wife, the former Evelyn Bunn Totten. He was the youngest of three boys and at first did not appear to posses any special athletic ability. Button started skating at the age of six with his school friends and enjoyed the sport enough that he later traded in a pair of hockey skates that he had received as a Christmas present for figure skates. Button's family was wealthy enough that he could take private lessons with coach Gustav Lussi at the Philadelphia Skating and Humane Club and in Lake Placid, New York. The lessons paid off and in 1943, when Button entered his first competition at the Eastern States Novice Championship, he skated away with the silver medal.

Just weeks after that second-place finish, fourteen-year-old Button won the gold medal at the Middle Atlantic Novice Championship in April 1943, which began a string of victories. In 1944 he took first place at the Eastern States Junior and United States Novice Championships; the following year, Button won the gold medal at Junior Championships. In 1946 the United States Figure Skating Association (USFSA) resumed its men's senior competition, which had not been held for the prior two years because of World War II. Sixteen-year-old Button won the event and became the youngest men's champion in U.S. figure skating history. He repeated as champion every year through 1952. With seven championships, Button shared the honor of holding the most U.S. men's titles with Roger Turner, who reigned from 1928 to 1934.