List of U.S. Presidents to Visit Rochester

List of U.S. Presidents to Visit Rochester, N.Y.

Visits of sitting presidents and president-elects:

February 18, 1861: President Abraham Lincoln (16) stops to make some brief remarks in Rochester during his inaugural train trip to Washington, D.C. [1], [2]

May 30, 1892: President Benjamin Harrison (23), New York Governor Roswell Flower, and Frederick Douglas give speeches at the dedication of the Soldiers' Monument commemorating civil war veterans in Washington Park, accompanied by a parade of 10,000 people.  The monument includes bronze statues of infantry, cavalry, marine, and artillery soldiers with a central figure of Abraham Lincoln. [9]

August 23, 1911: President William Howard Taft (27), starting what be a two month tour, Taft attends the 45th annual Grand Army of the Republic encampment in Rochester. [30], [31], [32], [33]

October 17, 1936: Franklin D. Roosevelt (32) addresses Rochester area citizens. It was raining. [14]

May 2, 1940: Franklin D. Roosevelt (32) returns to Rochester.  It rained again. [15]

October 8, 1948: Harry S. Truman (33) visits Rochester. [16]

May 17, 1963: Dwight Eisenhower gives a keynote speech at the Eastman Theatre. [37]

October 15, 1964: Lyndon B. Johnson (36) attends a political rally in Rochester. [17]

June 18, 1971: Richard Nixon (37) discusses taxes, Vietnam, drugs, and race relations in Rochester. [18]

October 31, 1977: Gerald Ford (38) visits Rochester. [19]

October 29, 1980: Jimmy Carter (39) attends a political rally in Rochester. [20]

November 1, 1984: Ronald Regan (40) attends a political rally in Rochester. [21],[35]

May 18, 1989: President George H. W. Bush (41) addresses local teachers at the Wilson Magnet High School and business leaders at Kodak on the issue of education. [10], [11], [12]

May 24, 2005:  President George W. Bush (43) talks about social security in Greece, N.Y. [13]

March 14, 2006: President George W. Bush (43) again visits Rochester, meets local autistic basketball hero Jason McElwain and gives a speech at Canandaigua High School. [7], [8]

August 22, 2013: President Barack Obama (44) stops for lunch in Rochester on Park Avenue while on a bus tour traveling between Buffalo and Syracuse.

Visits of presidents prior or subsequent to holding office:

July 27 - 28, 1843: Former president John Quincy Adams, at the time serving as a congressman from Massachusetts, spends the evening in Rochester dining at the Eagle hotel and touring Mount Hope Cemetery. [22]

June 10, 1884: New York Governor Grover Cleveland gives a speech at Rochester's Semi-centennial celebration.  He would go on to win the presidential election that November. 

 

June 13, 1900: New York Governor Theodore Roosevelt gives a speech at the University of Rochester's semi-centennial. [37]

1920: Franklin D. Roosevelt visits Rochester in conjunction with the League of Nations Field Day.

October 19, 1932: Presidential candidate Franklin Delano Roosevelt visits Rochester to support the candidacy of Lieutenant Governor Lehman.

October 1,1959: Senator John F. Kennedy gives a speach at the University of Rochester on -Soviet relations. He also spoke at the Temple B’rith Kodesh Temple Club on the state of Israel.  [25], [27], [37]

September 28, 1960: Senator John F. Kennedy gives a speech at the Rochester War Memorial. [26] 

November 1, 1960: A week before the election, Vice President Richard Nixon delivers a speech at the Rochester War Memorial Auditorium during his unsuccessful first campaign for the Presidency against John F. Kennedy.  [3]

1966: Richard Nixon gives the commencement speech at the University of Rochester [37]

October 14, 1976: Candidate Jimmy Carter makes a campaign stop in Rochester. [28]

October 17, 1983: Jimmy Carter gives a lecture at the University of Rochester titled, “Striving for a Just Society." [37]

February 1988: Senator Joe Biden, after recently bowing out as candidate for the democratic presidential primary, gives a speech at the University of Rochester.  Later that night, he would develop a headache that would shortly after be diagnosed as a life threatening aneurysm. He would not return to work in Congress for six months while he recovered. [36],[37],[38]

May 23, 1997: George H. W. Bush gives the commencement speech at the Rochester Institute if Technology. [34]

October 20, 2011: Former President Bill Clinton gives a speech at the University of Rochester Meliora Weekend. [4],[5],[37]

October 19, 2012: Former President Bill Clinton returns to Rochester to attend a political rally at the Riverside Convention Center. [6]

July 27, 2015: Vice President Joseph Biden and NY governor Andrew Cuomo hold a press conference in Greece, NY announcing that Rochester has been selected for the site of the headquarters for the new American Institute for Manufacturing Integrated Photonics. [39], [40], [41]

April 10, 2016: Donald Trump holds a campaign rally in a hanger at the Monroe County Airport. [29]

References

[1] Rochester History (July 1940) v. 2, n. 3, pg 4
[2] Rochester History (July 1943) v. 5, n. 3, pg 17-18
[3] The American Presidency Project: Richard Nixon, University of California, Santa Barbara
[4] http://rochester.ynn.com/content/all_news/561216/bill-clinton-speaks-at-u-of-r-s-meliora-weekend/
[5] http://www.rochester.edu/news/show.php?id=3767
[6] http://www.whec.com/news/stories/s2801765.shtml
[7] http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5280947
[8] http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/sports/preps/basketball/2006-03-14-bush-autistic_x.htm
[9] History of Rochester and Monroe County, New York (1908); Peck, William F.; page 108
[10] Rochester History (Fall 1989) v. 51, n. 4, pg 13
[11] http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=17041
[12] http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=17043
[13] http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=64547&st=Rochester&st1=
[14] http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=15196&st=Rochester&st1=
[15] http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=15891&st=Rochester&st1=
[16] http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=13037&st=Rochester&st1=
[17] http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=26605&st=Rochester&st1=
[18] http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=3049&st=Rochester&st1=
[19] http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=6574&st=Rochester&st1=
[20] http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=45388&st=Rochester&st1=
[21] http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=39364&st=Rochester&st1=
[22] The Memoirs of John Quincy Adams: comprising portions of his diary. Volume 11, pg 397 
[23] http://photo.libraryweb.org/carlweb/jsp/FullRecord?databaseID=716&record=64&controlNumber=11844
[24] http://photo.libraryweb.org/carlweb/jsp/FullRecord?databaseID=716&record=85&controlNumber=4465
[25] http://www.rochester.edu/news/kennedy-in-rochester/
[26] http://www.jfklibrary.org/Research/Research-Aids/JFK-Speeches/Rochester-NY_19600928.aspx
[27] http://www.jfklibrary.org/Asset-Viewer/Archives/JFKCAMP1960-1030-006.aspx
[28] https://www.fordlibrarymuseum.gov/library/document/0204/1512087.pdf (pg47)
[29] Democrat and Chronicle, April 11, 2016 http://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2016/04/10/donald-trump-rally-rochester-jobs/82872624/
[30] New York Times, "Taft Back Home, Then Away Again", November 02, 1911
[31] Library of Congress, The Grand Army of the Republic and Kindred Societies - National Encampments: Bibliography
[32] Library of Congress, President Taft at G.A.R. convention, Rochester, New York (photo)
[33] ADDRESS OF PRESIDENT TAFT TO THE GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC AT CONVENTION HALL ROCHESTER NY AUGUST 23 1911
[34] From the archives: George H.W. Bush addresses RIT Class of 1997
[35] Ronald Regan Youtube Library, 
President Reagan's Remarks at a Reagan-Bush Rally in Rochester, New York on November 1, 1984 

[36] Flegenheimer, Matt "THE LONG RUN: Biden’s First Run for President Was a Calamity. Some Missteps Still Resonate." (June 3, 2019) New York Times

[37] "Ask the archivist: Was that a US president on the Quad?" (November 12, 2020) University of Rochester

[38] Newman, Meredith "What Joe Biden learned from his life-threatening brain aneurysms" (August 14, 2020) Deleware News Journal

[39] "Vice President Biden, Governor Cuomo announce that Rochester will be headquarters for nation’s newest manufacturing innovation hub." (July 27, 2015) University of Rochester 

[40] "Governor Cuomo and Vice President Biden Announce the AIM Photonics Headquarters in Rochester", YouTube, University of Rochester

[41] "FACT SHEET: Vice President Biden Announces New Integrated Photonics Manufacturing Innovation Hub in Rochester, New York", White House Office of the Vice President, Archives.gov