Presidential Visits to Wisconsin
Dwight D. Eisenhower Fishing, 1960
Dwight D. Eisenhower and his brothers on a fishing trip proudly exhibit muskies and northern pike on a Wisconsin lake. From left are Dwight, Edgar, Milton, and Roy Eisenhower. View the original source document: WHI 2095
No Wisconsin native has served as the President of the United States, however, many Presidents have visited our state before, during, or after their time in the oval office. The first was Zachary Taylor (1784-1850), who commanded U.S. Army troops in Wisconsin between 1832 and 1837. Under his charge was Jefferson Davis (1808-1889), who not only eloped with Taylor's daughter but would later lead the Confederacy during the Civil War. Davis' great adversary, Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865), was also in Wisconsin at the time.
As a soldier in the Black Hawk War, Lincoln marched in July 1832 from the state line at Beloit up to Fort Atkinson, where he was mustered out before returning home to Illinois to start his political career. He may have returned in 1835 to mend a broken heart (the evidence is assessed here), and he came back in 1859 to give speeches at Milwaukee and Janesville. At the latter place, Lincoln came down to breakfast barefoot after losing his boots in the night, according to Madison banker Lucien Hanks (1838-1926), who spent the night with him.
After Lincoln, presidents visited Wisconsin often. Madison barber Herman Gaertner had a unique perspective on presidents: he shaved them and cut their hair (and gave this interview about his career). In 1912, Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) was shot in Milwaukee during a campaign stop. Claiming, "It takes more than one bullet to kill a Bull Moose," he gave his speech anyway while blood soaked through his shirt.
In fact, since Groover Cleveland, 22nd President of the United States, every president has visited Wisconsin.
Zachary Taylor, 1817-1836
Abraham Lincoln, 1832
Ulysses S. Grant
Rutherford B. Hayes (Sept. 10, 1878, while in office, to make a speech at the State Fair)
James A. Garfield
Chester Arthur
Groover Cleveland (visited several times, including fishing trips to Lake Mendota)
William McKinley, E.P. Company plant visit in Milwaukee, 1899
Theodore Roosevelt, 1903 and October 14, 1912 when he was wounded while delivering a speech from a car in front of the Gilpatrick Hotel in Milwaukee
William H. Taft, 1909 and attended the Wisconsin State Fair and 1911
Woodrow Wilson, visits to Milwaukee, 1910 speech while New Jersey Governor, 1912 campaign speech at Pabst Theater, and speeches in Racine and Kenosha
Warren G. Harding, visited Madison
Calvin Coolidge, 1928 visited Cedar Island Lodge near Brule
Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1932, 1934 to deliver a speech in Green Bay, and 1940
Herbert Hoover delivered a speech in Madison in 1932, while campaigning unsuccessfully for a second term
Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1946 and 1952 for a campaign visit and parade
Harry Truman, 1948 while campaigning, and as president on May 14, 1950 to give an address at the UW-Madison Field House
John F. Kennedy, 1959, 1960 visit to Oscar Mayer, and 1962 campaign visit to Milwaukee
Richard Nixon, 1957, as vice-president dedicated City Stadium (now Lambeau Field) in Green Bay. 1960 campaign stop at the Madison Municipal Airport
Ronald Regan, visited Broan Manufacturing Company, 1987
Lyndon Johnson, 1964 visited Milwaukee
Gerald Ford, Mitchell Field 1975 and speech at the Mary. E. Sawyer Auditorium in La Crosse, 1976
Jimmy Carter, 1979 and 1980 visit to Milwaukee technical school
George H. W. Bush, 1992 whistlestop campaign visit and in 2001 ceremonial first pitch at Miller Park
Bill Clinton (on Oct. 1, 1992, while campaigning, and on Feb. 14, 2008, to campaign for his wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton)
George W. Bush, 2002 No Child Left Behind tour and 2004 campaign visit
Barack Obama, 2012 visit to Madison and 2015 visit to La Crosse to support of new overtime rules intended to boost middle-class earnings
Donald Trump, 2016 campaign visit, 2020 visit to Kenosha
Joe Biden, 2012 Democratic Election rally held at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. Visits as President in 2023 and 2024
Sources
US presidents who have visited Wisconsin through the years (jsonline.com)
Presidents visit Wisconsin often (jsonline.com)
- See photos of them (not just campaigning but also fishing in funny hats).
- View a nine-page article printed in the Milwaukee Journal in 1929 that gives more details on presidential visitors, from Taylor to Hoover.