We Americans are now being treated to the fun of watching George
W. Bush and Senator John Kerry duke it out for the honor of putting
the title
”
President of the United States
”
on his business cards.
We Americans are now being treated to the fun of watching George W. Bush and Senator John Kerry duke it out for the honor of putting the title “President of the United States” on his business cards.
But before summer arrives and the mudslinging truly begins, let us pause and consider some of the famous occupants of the Oval Office (and one presidential contender) who have had contact of note with our own local area. Let’s begin with John C. Fremont, the famous American explorer. He launched his political career in San Jose in 1848, when the newly formed state Legislature chose him to represent California as one of its two U.S. senators. Fremont went on to become the first Republican presidential candidate, losing the 1856 election to James Buchanan. Although he never made it to the White House, the presidential wanna-be’s name is honored at Fremont Peak State Park (near San Juan Bautista) as well as the city of Fremont. In 1879, former President Ulysses S. Grant spent some time touring the area. Among other activities, he watched one of Leland Stanford’s horses run a race at Agriculture Park near San Jose’s Alameda.
In 1901, President William McKinley gave a speech in St. James Park in San Jose at a spot across from the Santa Clara County Courthouse. A few months later in Buffalo, N.Y., the president was struck by an assassin’s bullet. A statue honoring McKinley now stands at the park location where he gave his speech – and it serves as quite a popular resting spot for the local pigeon population.
In 1903, President Teddy Roosevelt passed through this region on his grand tour of the West. Legend has it the “Rough Rider” spent a night sleeping in his private train car in the middle of a Campbell prune orchard. However, he didn’t get much sleep as local farmers kept coming by to visit or seek his autograph. Later, Roosevelt and his entourage traveled through Pacheco Pass on his way to visit with John Muir in Yosemite Valley.
Stanford University has a number of links to the White House. Most notable is Herbert Hoover who entered as a freshman in 1891, graduating in mining engineering in 1895. While at Stanford, Hoover organized the first “Big Game” with football rival University of California, Berkeley. Today, that event is a hallowed Silicon Valley tradition. After losing the White House to Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Hoover returned to this area of California to lick his political wounds. He particularly enjoyed spending much of his time in the wilderness area of what is now Grant Ranch County Park. And he’s still honored at Stanford University. The tallest structure on the campus is named Hoover Tower.
In 1893 after President Benjamin Harrison left the White House, he taught classes in constitutional and international law at Stanford University. For whatever reason, the university never named a tower after Harrison.
And in 1940, a recent Harvard grad named John Fitzgerald Kennedy rented a cottage on campus for $60 a month while taking the class “Introduction to Business and Government” from Professor Theodore Kreps at the university. The young Kennedy spent more of his time with his girlfriends than the books. He often took dates to Santa Cruz and other coastal retreats.
In 1948, Harry Truman made a whistle-stop in San Jose during his “Give ’em Hell Harry Campaign.” He almost bypassed the town but John McEnery (father of former San Jose mayor Tom McEnery) went up to San Francisco and met Truman one morning while he was shaving in his hotel bathroom. Truman cordially promised to stop en route to Los Angeles. At the San Jose depot, Truman told a corny joke, the punch-line hinging on the mispronouncing of San Jose as “San Jo-see.” Historians still debate whether this joke might have been the reason Truman lost Santa Clara County to Tom Dewey by 11,000 votes.
In 1962, then-Vice President Lyndon Baines Johnson visited San Jose to give a speech at City Hall at 5 p.m. – quitting time for many civic workers. So paltry was the turnout that Mayor Robert Welch had to frantically search the city’s government offices for secretaries, janitors and engineers to fill up chairs. Even the few who showed up weren’t enough to please LBJ, who never returned to San Jose.
While campaigning in 1968, Richard Nixon held his first full-scale political rally at Buck Shaw Stadium at Santa Clara University. Nixon made a short visit to San Jose on October 29, 1970, during the peak of the Vietnam War demonstrations. When his motorcade reached the Civic Auditorium parking lot (a space now occupied by the McEnery Convention Center), about 2,000 “peace marchers” stormed his car. Nixon stood on the car hood and gave his famous V-sign, which antagonized the crowd. A rock flew through the air, hitting the car. More rocks, as well as eggs and vegetables, came flying at the president, and the Secret Service quickly got him into the limo and drove back to the airport. However, one car in the motorcade stalled, and demonstrators pelted it with rocks, breaking windows and injuring the passengers inside.
Perhaps during the coming months on their own presidential campaign tours, George W. Bush and John Kerry will grace our local region with their political presence. And perhaps their visits will provide some more interesting anecdotes to our local history.
Martin Cheek
