Presidents Day: The presidents who have visited Louisville and the national influence it had

Thirty of the 46 U. S. Presidents have visited Louisville, with three having a major impact nationally due to our city.

The first to arrive in 1819 was the fifth president, James Monroe. He was accompanied by General Andrew Jackson, the future seventh president. They spent the weekend at Locust Grove. Jackson returned to Locust Grove in 1824.

Other presidents who came in the 1800s include James Polk (1845) and Millard Fillmore (1854). President Andrew Johnson, on Sept. 11, 1866, stated: “I come bearing the flag of our country containing 36, not 25, states!”

Ulysses Grant visited during the Civil War. He stayed at the original Galt House in March 1864, along with General Wm. T Sherman. Grant returned in 1879.

Chester Arthur had the biggest celebration on Aug. 1, 1883, when he opened the Southern Exposition.

In the early 1900s, Theodore Roosevelt (April 5, 1905) and Woodrow Wilson (1916) arrived. William Howard Taft (1911) and Warren G Harding (1920) spoke at the Armory.

Herbert Hoover had one of his last best days as President when he opened the Municipal Bridge on Oct. 23, 1929, just prior to the Stock Market crash.

FDR visited several times in the 1930s. Harry Truman visited in 1948 and had family ancestors who lived near Middletown. Dwight Eisenhower was here. John F. Kennedy landed in Air Force One and attended Mary Magdalene Catholic Church on October 14, 1962. Sadly, on Dec. 6, 1963, we named our new I-65 bridge for him.

Lyndon Johnson (1964) and Richard Nixon (1968 and 1969) were here. Gerald Ford attended the Kentucky Derby 13 times! Jimmy Carter campaigned here in 1976. Ronald Reagan debated Walter Mondale at the Kentucky Center for the Arts on October 7, 1984. George H. W. Bush came to the Derby. Bill Clinton (1998) and George W. Bush (2000, 2002, & 2006) were here, as was Barack Obama in 2015 and Donald Trump in 2019. Joe Biden was here as Vice-President.

Businesses are leaving downtown: Ditch the business-focused downtown model for the mixed use urban neighborhood of the future

Three Presidents had a significant impact on Louisville, as well as the nation.

Thomas Jefferson was Governor of Virginia when our county was formed in 1780. As President, Jefferson authorized Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to depart from here in 1803 on the Northwest Expedition. Lewis and Clark returned here together in 1806.

Arriving as an infant, Zachary Taylor spent most of his time away on military campaigns. Zachary’s 1848 defeat of Mexico’s General Santa Anna still has reverberations today in our immigration policies.

Perhaps the most influential was Abraham Lincoln. Named for his grandfather who was killed during an Indian attack near Middletown, Lincoln only visited here once, in August 1841.  Abraham stayed at his good friend Joshua Fry Speed’s house. He experienced slavery first-hand, both in downtown and at the Farmington plantation. Lincoln noted how it greatly impacted his attitude toward this despicable inhumane practice.

While we haven’t had a native son or daughter yet be President, our city has seen more than its fair share of presidential history and influence!

Steve Wiser is a local historian, author, and architect.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Remembering the presidents who have visited Louisville, Kentucky