Presidential Homes

[The Gipper]

This summer I visited a couple of Presidential Homes. Here is my list of the Presidential homes I have now been to:

 

Washington....I've been to his birthplace in Virginia (but I have not been to Mt. Vernon)

Adams...There is a 3 home Adams family tour that you can take in Quncy Mass. Been to 3 of his homes

Jefferson...Monticello, Va. (when I was young)

John Q. Adams...covered on the Quincy Mass. tour

Jackson...The Hermitage, outside Nashville

Van Buren...his home in Kinderhook,NY

William Henry Harrison....his birthplace on the Berkely Plantation Va. (this year)

John Tyler....his Sherwood Forest Plantation, just down the street from WH Harrison Va.#

Lincoln...been to his birthplace in KY, and to his home in Springfield Ill.

Andrew Johnson....home and workshop in Greenville, Tenn.

Grant...been to the Grant Farm near St. Louis MO, and to his home in Galena, Ill.

Garfield...his home in Mentor, Oh.

McKinley...the Saxton home in Canton, now the First Ladies NHP, where he and his wife lived

Teddy Roosevelt....his Elk Ranch in North Dakota, (but not to his home in Oyster Bay, NY)

Taft...his home in Cincinnati

FDR...his home in Hyde Park NY

Eisenhower....his home in Gettysburg Pa.

JFK...both his birthplace in Brookline Mass and the Kennedy Compound in Hyaniss Port (outside)...though my sister used to work there when both Bobby and Teddy were alive

LBJ....his home in Johnson City Tx.

GHW Bush...outside the gates of his Kennebunkport home (he was living there then)

Clinton...his birthplace in Hope Ark.

 

That is about half the Presidents. I have not been to two Prez home nearby: Harding in Marion Oh. and Hayes in Fremont.

 

# Note: John Tyler's grandson still lives in Sherwood Forest. Grandson, you say? Wasn't Tyler Pres. in like 1820? Yes he was. But, note this: Tyler had a son when he was like 63 years old....and that son of his had a son when he was 75 years old....Tylers grandson....who is now in his 80s, approaching 90.....a grandson still alive 192 years after Tyler became President!!

[The Gipper]

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2012/01/president-tyler-grandson-alive.html

[ballpeen]

Pretty cool info on Tylers son.

 

 

I have only been to Mt. Vernon, Montecello, and the Hermitage. I attended church with President Carter and his wife last month. They sat directly behind us during the service. Pat and I got a nice pic with them after the service.

 

 

He teaches Sunday School 10-12 times a year at his church in Plains, Georgia. We had reservations at the Inn in Plains and stayed in the room he and his wife stay in if they are hosting some event in town. A lovely room.

 

I wasn't a big fan of his while he was President, but he is without doubt the best Ex-President in my lifetime. Habitat for Humanity, the Carter Center....the guy had done some wonderful things.

[ballpeen]

[The Gipper]

Pretty cool info on Tylers son.

 

 

I have only been to Mt. Vernon, Montecello, and the Hermitage. I attended church with President Carter and his wife last month. They sat directly behind us during the service. Pat and I got a nice pic with them after the service.

 

 

He teaches Sunday School 10-12 times a year at his church in Plains, Georgia. We had reservations at the Inn in Plains and stayed in the room he and his wife stay in if they are hosting some event in town. A lovely room.

 

I wasn't a big fan of his while he was President, but he is without doubt the best Ex-President in my lifetime. Habitat for Humanity, the Carter Center....the guy had done some wonderful things.

His place in Plains is a National Historic Site which I do hope to get to one day. Next summer I am scheduled to go on a trip to Vermont. Where I will be staying is not far from where Coolidge lived. In fact, it is where he was sworn in as President when Harding died.

Where is your photo with Jimma?

[ballpeen]

At the church in Plains. When he first came out to teach Sunday School, you could take pictures while he was asking where people came from. He wanted to know by state. If someone in another section mentioned your state, you didn't mention it again. When he got to our section, we were the only folks from Tennessee, so I got to answer the Presidents question.

 

It was a great service. As I said, the President and his wife were two over and the row behind us once he got done with his class and the regular service started.

 

If you get a chance to go, find his teaching schedule. It's a great experience. Get booked at the INN he and his wife helped build and you will get seats in the first 2 rows. You can get pics with him and his wife afterwards. It's not often you can stand shoulder to shoulder with a Ex-President

[The Gipper]

At the church in Plains. When he first came out to teach Sunday School, you could take pictures while he was asking where people came from. He wanted to know by state. If someone in another section mentioned your state, you didn't mention it again. When he got to our section, we were the only folks from Tennessee, so I got to answer the Presidents question.

 

It was a great service. As I said, the President and his wife were two over and the row behind us once he got done with his class and the regular service started.

 

If you get a chance to go, find his teaching schedule. It's a great experience. Get booked at the INN he and his wife helped build and you will get seats in the first 2 rows. You can get pics with him and his wife afterwards. It's not often you can stand shoulder to shoulder with a Ex-President

Indeed. In fact, the only time I was ever in the presence of a current or ex President was when Ronald Reagan addressed our Kiwanis Convention in 1987 in DC, while he was Prez.. When I was a kid I saw Hubert Humphrey....when he was running for VP in 1964....and later George McGovern when he was candidate for Prez.

( I think I may have mentioned however that my sister worked for a summer right next door to the Kennedy Compound. This was after John was killed, but she did meet Teddy (pre Chappaquiddick), but she did not see Bobby.

[DieHardBrownsFan]

When I was on Recruiting Duty in Scotia, New York, I lived in some Army housing in Rotterdam, part of Schenectady. The Townhome next to ours was occupied by Carter when he was going through Navy NUC school in Balston Spa. They even had a big bronze plaque in the middle of a traffic circle proclaiming it. Personally I hated Carter as President and thought the best thing that ever happened is when Reagan got elected.

[The Gipper]

When I was on Recruiting Duty in Scotia, New York, I lived in some Army housing in Rotterdam, part of Schenectady. The Townhome next to ours was occupied by Carter when he was going through Navy NUC school in Balston Spa. They even had a big bronze plaque in the middle of a traffic circle proclaiming it. Personally I hated Carter as President and thought the best thing that ever happened is when Reagan got elected.

Well, to simply show where each man came from: Carter has turned his home in Georgia over to the National Park Service for all to come and see it.

Reagan turned his home in California over to some exclusive right wing think tank, heavily guarded and only accessible if you are going to go through their program.

[ballpeen]

I don't know about all about that with President Reagan....but indeed, the Carters will be buried in Plains, across from their home in a polt that has already been erected.

 

 

As long as one of them is alive, the Secret Service is in charge of the home and plot...trust me, they are there.....maybe 40 on staff, 20 at all times. Once both have passed, the Park Service takes over the home and burial plot security....this was all explained before the Church Service.

 

The home isn't open now. It will be when both the Carter's pass.

 

 

I am a bigger fan of Jimmy Carter now then I was when he ran or was President.

 

 

As soon as you drive in to town from the west, you see a big gate and two black limo type Humvees with a guard shack.....there is little doubt that is the Carter address,

 

When you go to his church, the Marines send out a couple of dogs to sniff your vehicle for bombs....big mean dogs with 4 big mean Marines with them, not to mention men in black standing off in the woods and who knows where, and GHSP cars in numbers or 4-5 in the parking lot...two troopers per car, plus a few local cops out in the street...then you stand in line to get checked. Pretty impressive to be honest.

[DieHardBrownsFan]

Kind of a waste of tax payer money since the guy hasn't been President since January 1981. I doubt he has much valid intelligence to give any enemy.

[The Gipper]

Kind of a waste of tax payer money since the guy hasn't been President since January 1981. I doubt he has much valid intelligence to give any enemy.

You don't think very clearly. Terrorists and other idiots do the things they do for the symbology of their acts far more so than for the intelligence they can garner.

E.g.: Carter was the architect of the Israeli/Egyptian Camp David Peace Accords.

Do you not think that there may not be radicals out there who are opposed to the Egypt/Israel peace (and they are out there), that might like to kill or kidnap the architect of that peace?

Especially with all the crap that is going on over there now?

[The Gipper]

I don't know about all about that with President Reagan....but indeed, the Carters will be buried in Plains, across from their home in a polt that has already been erected.

 

 

As long as one of them is alive, the Secret Service is in charge of the home and plot...trust me, they are there.....maybe 40 on staff, 20 at all times. Once both have passed, the Park Service takes over the home and burial plot security....this was all explained before the Church Service.

 

The home isn't open now. It will be when both the Carter's pass.

 

 

I am a bigger fan of Jimmy Carter now then I was when he ran or was President.

 

 

As soon as you drive in to town from the west, you see a big gate and two black limo type Humvees with a guard shack.....there is little doubt that is the Carter address,

 

When you go to his church, the Marines send out a couple of dogs to sniff your vehicle for bombs....big mean dogs with 4 big mean Marines with them, not to mention men in black standing off in the woods and who knows where, and GHSP cars in numbers or 4-5 in the parking lot...two troopers per car, plus a few local cops out in the street...then you stand in line to get checked. Pretty impressive to be honest.

Right. His current home, though perhaps technically now part of the park, is not open to the public, but the school, church, his boyhood home, and even Billy Carter's gas station are part of the park. See the link:

http://www.nps.gov/jica/index.htm

[The Gipper]

Here is the link to the Reagan Ranch. Like I said, it is only open to you if you have the "right credentials".

 

http://www.yaf.org/VisitingTheReaganRanch.aspx

 

Look, I liked Reagan, though I didn't care for all his policies. (and that is true for just about every President). And I consider myself somewhat of a Presidential Historian...and I like to visit Presidential Homes. But I don't think I should have to be a sychophant of his philosophy to have the opportunity to see a place of historical significance. (but, that, apparently is what they require).

[DieHardBrownsFan]

You don't think very clearly. Terrorists and other idiots do the things they do for the symbology of their acts far more so than for the intelligence they can garner.

E.g.: Carter was the architect of the Israeli/Egyptian Camp David Peace Accords.

Do you not think that there may not be radicals out there who are opposed to the Egypt/Israel peace (and they are out there), that might like to kill or kidnap the architect of that peace?

Especially with all the crap that is going on over there now?

I think plenty clearly magistrate. And Carter is probably the second worst president in history, after Obama that is. And what he orchestrated is back in the Stone age as far as what is happening now a days.

[The Gipper]

Here are the Presidents whose homes I have not visited, and their status re open to public:

 

Madison: Montpelier Va. Open to public tours

 

Monroe: AshLawn Va. Open to public tours

 

Polk: Ancestral Home, Columbia TN, open to public

 

Taylor: Springfield, Louisville KY, closed due to weather damage, but will open to public again

 

Fillmore: Fillmore House, E. Aurora NY, open to public

 

Pierce: Childhood homestead is a New Hampshire state park, open to public. Adult Home in Concord NH open to public

 

Buchanan: Wheatland, Lancaster PA, open to public

 

Hayes: Spiegel Grove, Fremont Oh. An Ohio State Park open to public

 

Cleveland: Westland Mansion, Princeton NJ.....is a private residence, not open to public

 

Benjamin Harrison: Home in Indianapolis, is a museum open to public

 

Teddy Roosevelt: (been to his ranch) Sagamore Hill, Oyster Bay NY, is part of the NPS (National Park System), thus, open to public

 

Wilson: Birthplace in Staunton Va. is part of his Presidential Library, thus open. Adult home in Wash. DC is a museum, open

 

Harding: Harding Home in Marion Oh., owned by the Ohio Historical Society, open to public

 

Coolidge: home in Plymouth Vt. open to public

 

Truman: home in Independence Mo. is part of the NPS, thus open to public

 

JFK: birthplace is part of NPS. the Kennedy Compound in Hyannis is still the residence of Kennedy family members

 

Nixon: His San Clemente home (Western White House), is a private residence, not open to public

 

Ford: He moved around, a lot. There is a home in Grand Rapids where he lived for a while that is on the National Historic Register, same with a house in Virginia after he came to Congress. He had homes in Rancho Mirage CA (where Betty Ford center is), and in Vail Co. None of these seem to be open to the public.

 

Reagan....see above, home near Santa Barbara not generally open to the public

 

GHW Bush. Still lives at Walker Point, Kennebunkport ME, and in house in Houston

 

Clinton....still lives in Chataqua NY house, but as noted, his birthplace is part of NPS

 

W. Bush...still lives at Crawford Ranch Tx.

 

Obama...as far as I know he still owns his house in Chicago. Not open to public, obviously

 

 

Ergo, it seems that the only deceased Presidents whose homes cannot be visitied are Cleveland, Nixon, Ford, Reagan.

 

Personally, I think that the Cleveland home in Princeton, the Nixon San Clemente house, and the Reagan Ranch should be acquired by public entities so they can be enjoyed by all concerned. (Fair compensation, of course).

And for Ford....I guess you gotta figure out a place that he lived.

[The Gipper]

I think plenty clearly magistrate. And Carter is probably the second worst president in history, after Obama that is. And what he orchestrated is back in the Stone age as far as what is happening now a days.

Clear as mud. Any historian could tell you that those who are considered the worst President's in history are the likes of Buchanan, Pierce, Andrew Johnson, Harding, and Fillmore.

 

And what Carter orchestrated is still considered an ongoing, fully binding treaty between two nations. We have ongoing, fully binding treaties between nations that were negotiated in the early 1800s, even in the 1790s.

[slowburn]

Rutherford B Hayes, our 19th President, was born here in Delaware, Ohio on October 4, 1822. It is sad that he only rates a placard which is in front of the local BP station, next to the sidewalk. The Harding Memorial, 25 miles north on US 23 in Marion is a beautiful monument worthy of a day trip. As you can see, the disparity between the two is monumental. I have not been to the Hayes memorial in Fremont (didn't know it was there until I read Gippers post).

 

http://www.presidentsusa.net/hayesbp1.jpg

 

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/70/Harding_Memorial_Marion_Ohio.jpg

[The Gipper]

Rutherford B Hayes, our 19th President, was born here in Delaware, Ohio on October 4, 1822. It is sad that he only rates a placard which is in front of the local BP station, next to the sidewalk. The Harding Memorial, 25 miles north on US 23 in Marion is a beautiful monument worthy of a day trip. As you can see, the disparity between the two is monumental. I have not been to the Hayes memorial in Fremont (didn't know it was there until I read Gippers post).

 

http://www.presidentsusa.net/hayesbp1.jpg

 

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/70/Harding_Memorial_Marion_Ohio.jpg

Hayes was born in Delaware, but I understand that he lived as an adult in Fremont. His home is there and that is why all his "stuff" is there. He did attend Kenyon College (so did my kid) and I think there is a building and even some programs there named after him. And yes, a day trip to see both Hayes and Harding's places would be in order.

[DieHardBrownsFan]

Clear as mud. Any historian could tell you that those who are considered the worst President's in history are the likes of Buchanan, Pierce, Andrew Johnson, Harding, Carter, Clinton, Obama and Fillmore.

 

And what Carter orchestrated is still considered an ongoing, fully binding treaty between two nations. We have ongoing, fully binding treaties between nations that were negotiated in the early 1800s, even in the 1790s.

[ballpeen]

You need to visit the Hermitage outside of Nashville. Interesting look at the life of Andrew Jackson.

 

I am pretty sure the Browns are playing in Nashville next season. That might be a good game for some of the Browns Board members to take a road trip. Visit the Hermitage on Saturday afternoon, then hit the best Honky Tonk in the world that night.

 

http://http://www.tootsies.net/

[The Gipper]

You need to visit the Hermitage outside of Nashville. Interesting look at the life of Andrew Jackson.

 

I am pretty sure the Browns are playing in Nashville next season. That might be a good game for some of the Browns Board members to take a road trip. Visit the Hermitage on Saturday afternoon, then hit the best Honky Tonk in the world that night.

 

http://www.tootsies.net/

I was there when I had a convention in Nashville a few years back (2009 I think)