Presidential Visits to Beaufort District

Please note: Updated on 26 January 2024 - and with a few presidential hopeful visits added in.

There have been plenty of distinguished visitors in Beaufort District throughout its long and storied history. A number of politicians and candidates for the nation's highest government office have visited Beaufort District in the past, though most of the visits have occurred before the man became President of these United States (POTUS). Among the presidential hopefuls in the very late 20th century and early 21st century were John McCain, John Edwards, Donald Trump, and Pete Buttigieg. In November 2019, Vice President Mike Pence made a surprise visit to Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort to serve Thanksgiving dinner to service members.

  
In honor of the Presidents Day national, state, and Beaufort County holiday:

Q: Who was the first President to visit Beaufort District? 

A. Ulysses S. Grant
B. George Washington
C. Bill Clinton
D. Herbert Hoover
E. Jefferson Davis
F. James Monroe

Let's see: [and here you can follow my thinking and learn a little history at the same time]:

James Monroe was the 5th POTUS, serving from 1817 - 1825. He spent several days in early May in the town of Beaufort on his way to Florida. (You'll see this theme repeated in the 19th and 20th century history of this area: Tourists may drop by see a bit of the area's charms on their way to Florida though by the late 19th century, some of those travelers have purchased former plantations for timbering or hunting purposes.) But back in 1819, Monroe was on his way to inspect the land the United States got via the Adams-Onis Treaty of 1819.  He's a real contender.
 
By process of elimination, Jefferson Davis is out. He was a President, just not a POTUS. He was the one and only president of the Confederate States of America, 18 February 1861 to his capture by Union forces in Irwinville, GA on 10 May 1865. And though there are always rumors circulating that Davis sent the missing Confederate gold treasure to Beaufort (What's safer than storing such a treasure behind enemy lines?), there are no verifiable documents to substantiate that talk. (And, yes, from time to time treasure hunters show up in the Research Room to ask about old maps that would indicate where the treasure might be. Trust me, if I had access to such a map, I would have had that gold already in my possession and be a retired lady of leisure!)

Also I did not include any of the eight presidents under the Articles of Confederation, 1781-1789 for two reasons: Who remembers them - or that document? None of them appear to have ever visited Beaufort District. 

POTUS #31 Herbert Hoover was a great humanitarian with a number of highly successful business and charitable ventures. However, his reputation has been permanently tarnished by his failure to recognize the extreme danger inflicted on the nation's and world's economy by the New York Stock Exchange Crash of 1929. Hoover never visited Beaufort to my knowledge but his wife did.  Lou Henry Hoover arrived on the Presidential yacht "Sequoia" on March 3, 1932 on her way to Florida.  She was met by Mrs. B.E. deTreville and Mrs. W.J. Thomas of the local chapter of the  Daughters of the American Revolution and Mrs. R. Maynard Marshall representing the City of Beaufort.  Mrs. Hoover attended a reception hosted on the Marine Corps Recruit Depot, saw a few historic sites, and shook hands with many area residents before departing the next day. 

Beaufort Gazette, 3 March 1932, p. 1

Bill Clinton and his wife Hillary Rodham Clinton were frequent guests at Hilton Head's Renaissance Weekend founded by Phil and Linda Lader in 1981. Renaissance Weekend was a by-invitation-only conference of civic, business and political leaders and their families to share ideas and discuss big issues off-the-record in a relaxing environment. But it wasn't until 1993 that Clinton attended as the sitting POTUS #42. Renaissance Weekend has now moved from Hilton Head Island though it is still being held each year at a different location. (Monroe is still in the lead - and his visit would have obviously preceded any made by Ulysses S. Grant who was born in 1822, three years after Monroe's brief visit.)

Beaufort District residents entertained President George Washington in May of 1791. Washington decided to visit each state to unite the country under its recently ratified Constitution. For many people, he personified the term "American." Washington left Philadelphia (then the capital city of the new nation) on March 21, 1791 and headed south through Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia. It was a long, bumpy, and dusty trip by horse-drawn coach. He reached Beaufort District on May 11 of his Southern Tour. From his journal:

Wednesday 11th. After an early breakfast at Mr. Smiths we road 20 Miles to a place called Pokitellico, [Pocotaligo, now in Jasper County] where a dinner was provided by the Parishioners of Prince William for my reception; and an Address from them was presented and answered. After dinner we proceeded 16 Miles farther to Judge Haywards [Thomas Heyward, Signer of the Declaration of Independence and veteran of the Battle of Port Royal Island, 1779 that I wrote about earlier this month] w[h]ere we lodged, &, as also at Mr. Smiths were kindly and hospitably entertained. The next day we traveled another 22 miles to Purisburgh (National Archives, Founders Online database,)

A: Thus George Washington was the first President of the United States under the Constitution and the first POTUS to visit Beaufort District.

Reminder: The Beaufort County Library system - and the Beaufort District Collection Research Room - will be closed on Monday, February 19, 2024 to observe Presidents Day.