How are you at meeting US presidents?

The Name of the Game is Fame

 I think of myself as a fairly ordinary yet lucky individual. I had two loving parents who were hard workers and made it a point to help me get the kind of education they never had access to. I got that education and was able to parlay it into a career as a Professor of Communications and Theatre Arts in a small mid-western town. My wife and I raised our family there and we were residents for over fifty years.

 

Since most of what happened in those fifty years is pretty hum-drum, I am going to take the liberty today to tell you about how I happened to have been able to see in person three United States presidents in those fifty years. Now there was nothing buddy-buddy or intimate about those encounters, but in two of the three cases I was close enough to get a handshake and a short conversation.   

 

I don’t know if my experiences are in the realm of a normal percentage or something unusual for the average citizen of a small town. What I can tell you is that Jeff Rankin, a local historian, friend, and a long-time neighbor of ours, wrote an article in 2021 that appeared in our local newspaper. It reported that our tiny town had had visits from at least eight men who would become, were serving, or had been U.S. Presidents.  

 

Rankin wrote that the first recorded presidential visit to Monmouth was that of Abraham Lincoln. He visited as a circuit lawyer in 1834 and again in 1858 when he was running for an Illinois Senate seat. In 1858 he gave a speech, had his photograph taken, and stayed overnight. The following day he traveled the 13 miles to Galesburg, IL where he took part in a debate against a man named Stephen A. Douglas, who was his opponent in the race.  President James Garfield visited in 1861 long before he was president and Ulysses Grant in 1879 after his term had expired. The only visit by a sitting president came when William McKinley came to town in 1898.

 

This was followed by a long dry spell that was broken by Gerald Ford, who at the time of his visit was the Republican minority leader of Congress not a vice president or a president. He spoke at Monmouth College on Valentine’s Day in 1964. I was in my first year of employment at the college and am sorry to say that I have no recollection of his visit so I will not count it as one of my presidential contacts.

 

In 1976 Ronald Reagan was the next to visit and he became the first soon-to-be president I had ever met. He was really no stranger to the town since his family had lived in Monmouth from 1918 to 1919 and he had attended both first and second grade at a local school. His return in 1976 was during his campaign for president and I do remember that visit well. His advance team actually produced his old first grade teacher and had her sitting in the front row to be introduced during his speech. I was one of the volunteers who helped prepare the college gymnasium for his visit. We helped set up chairs, hang placards and flags, and pass out programs. According to Jeff Rankin’s article, there were over 2000 people in attendance and I can attest that the place was packed right up to the rafters. Like the consummate politician that he was, Reagan made sure that he pressed the flesh of all of the helpers backstage. It was a quick shake and a word or two and we had no idea whether he would win the election or not. Even though I was already a Democrat,  it was still quite a thrill. Many years later, when I was the Director of Acquisitions  for our county historical museum, I helped to collect and catalog the available President Reagan materials for future exhibits.

 

My second presidential meeting was not with a president-to-be, but with a former president. On Mother’s Day in the year 2000, George Herbert Walker Bush was gave the commencement address and received an honorary degree from  Monmouth College. By that time, I was a tenured full professor and occupied a spot rather high up in the marching order. Ex-President Bush was in the platform group just ahead of me and as we were all gathering on the sidewalk waiting to process in and take our seats, he made a point of walking back to talk to several of us and shake our hands. Bush had two Secret Service bodyguards with him. They had donned academic caps and gowns just like all the rest of us, but did stay pretty much in the background. The following morning Mr. Bush, who had stayed overnight at our president’s home, went out to the local golf course and played a round. I didn’t get to join that group, but a nice picture of him with our pro still hangs in the clubhouse at Gibson Woods. 

 

My final presidential encounter was also with a future president. On a warm late July afternoon in 2004, shortly after his impressive keynote address at the Democratic Convention, a young Illinois state senator was scheduled to make a short speech at Monmouth College. He was in the midst of a grueling thirty-nine city tour in pursuit of one of Illinois’ U.S. Senate seats. His talk was originally scheduled for a small second floor room at the college, but the crowd got so big that it had to be moved to the college chapel.  It was there that the audience, including me, was enthralled by his short address. I don’t think I need to remind you that Barack Obama won that Senate seat and then in 2008 made his lasting mark with a successful run for the presidency. I didn’t have any personal contact with him and I don’t remember if Michelle was there, but the now famous Obama smile was on full view along with his oratorical skill. I felt as though he was speaking just to me even though I was only a small part of a large crowd.  I proudly voted for him in 2008 and again in 2012.   

 

There you have it. An ordinary American in a small town in the USA was able to have short but close contact with three American presidents. I consider that pretty lucky and am grateful for it. I’d love to hear about your experiences in seeing or meeting any of our presidents or even other famous people. 

 

Jim De Young  1/11/2024