amUSIngArtifacts

A surprising number of U.S. presidents have visited Evansville, or at least came near to the Tri-State area.  To be clear, they might not have been president at the time they visited, but each did fill that office at some time.

The earliest was #11, James K. Polk, who was president from 1845-1849.  The late local historian Ken McCutchan tells the story of Polk’s trip aboard the steamship China up the Ohio River to his inauguration.  He was travelling from Nashville, TN and was expected to be in Evansville on February 2, 1845.  The China showed up late in the day and the waiting crowds were excited.  Their expectations were dashed when they were told Polk was asleep in his cabin and that the captain would not awaken him.  McCutchan comments, tongue in cheek: “One must wonder—if this was true—what kept the president in such a “mesmeric” sleep all the way from Nashville to Louisville.  That’s quite a long trip.”

No. 16  Abraham Lincoln (president 1861-1865) stumped for Whig candidate for president Henry Clay from Kentucky in October 1844. Lincoln, living in Illinois at that time, revered Clay and thought his influence might help Clay carry the state of Indiana.  He “made political speeches in Vincennes, Washington, Rockport, Carter Township, Gentryville, Boonville, and Evansville.”   He may also have visited earlier in his life.  Lincoln lived in Spencer County, IN from 1816-early 1830).  While relatively close by car today, it would have been quite a trip during Lincoln’s time, but it is not impossible he at least came near to Evansville.  In 1828 he and a friend took a flatboat down the Mississippi River to New Orleans.  He first traveled down the Ohio River to get to the Mississippi, meaning that he would have had to pass by Evansville.

According to an August 29, 2018 article  entitled “A look at Past Presidential Visits to the Tri-State,” published here, No. 26 Theodore Roosevelt (president 1901-1909) was in Evansville October 3, 1900, some 5 months before he became Vice President in March 1901.  He became President on September 14,1901 after President William McKinley died from his wounds after being shot at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York.

President #27 William Howard Taft (president 1909-1913) visited Evansville in April 1907 during his time as United States Secretary of War.

President #32 Franklin Delano Roosevelt (president 1933-1945) visited the Republic Aviation plant on April 27, 1943, as well as the shipyard and ordnance operations.  Part of Evansville’s contribution to WWII was the production of 6,242 P-47 Thunderbolts, the principal fighter plane in the war.

#33 Harry S. Truman (president 1945-1953) came to Evansville to speaker at a fundraiser for the Vanderburgh County Democratic Central Committee, held at the former Roberts Stadium on September 22, 1962.

#34, President Dwight David Eisenhower’s visit to Indiana on April 1, 1969 was a bit different.  Eisenhower had died March 28, so his “visit” was in reality that of his funeral train.

#35 John Fitzgerald Kennedy (president 1961-1963) visited Evansville in October 1960 while campaigning for president.

#36, Lyndon Baines Johnson (president 1963-1969) visited Evansville, along with his wife “Lady Bird,” on October 26, 1964 as he was campaigning for the presidency.

#37, Richard Nixon, visited Evansville on May 3, 1968, while campaigning for the presidency.

#38, Gerald Ford (president 1974-1977), was in Evansville on April 23, 1976, on an unsuccessful bid for the presidency.  Interesting tidbit: Ford was the only person to serve as president without winning an election for either vice-president or president. He was appointed to the vice presidency when Spiro Agnew resigned in 1973, and assumed the presidency when Nixon resigned in 1974.

#39, Jimmy Carter (president 1977-1981) visited Evansville on May 2, 1976, less than a month after Ford.  His presidential campaign, however, was successful.

#40, Ronald Reagan (president 1981-1989) visited Evansville on April 27, 1976, in what was then an unsuccessful run for the presidency, losing the Nomination to Gerald Ford.

#41, George H.W. Bush (president 1989-1993) paid a visit to a mine in Galatia, IL on September 25, 1984, serving at that time as Vice President. (source)

#42, Bill Clinton (president 1993-2001) visited the area a number of times: on May 3, 2000 and October 21, 2016 he was in Owensboro, KY.  April 10, 2008 he campaigned for his wife in Boonville, Jasper, and Vincennes, and campaigned for her on April 26, 2016 in Evansville.

#43, George W. Bush (president 2001-2009) visited Hopkinsville, KY on June 2, 2005.

#44, Barack Obama (president 2009-2017) was in Evansville twice in 2008 (April 22 and May 5), and visited Gibson County on October 3, 2014.

#45 and #47, Donald Trump (president 2017-2021, 2025-) was in Evansville twice in 2016 (April 28 and August 15), and returned August 30, 2018.

                (Source for above 5 statements found here.)

Finally, there are two possibilities of men who might reasonably have been in our area prior to their presidencies. NOTE: I am NOT claiming these trips happened, only examining the possibility.

#9, William Henry Harrison (president March 4-April 4, 1841; he was the first president to die in office, from pneumonia). From 1801-1812 he was governor of the Indiana Territory; with the capital in Vincennes 1800-1816) he might have traveled to Evansville, or at least was fairly nearby. His home in Vincennes, Grouseland, is open as a museum today.

#23, Benjamin Harrison (president 1889-1893) served as the U.S. Senator from Indiana 1881-1887, and his home in Indianapolis is open as a museum today. Granted, travelling  from Indianapolis to Evansville in the 1880’s would have been daunting, but not impossible.