Term: Presidential Visits to Madison
Definition:
Thirteen U.S. presidents have visited Wisconsin's capital:
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
Grover Cleveland (visited several times, including fishing trips to Lake Mendota)
William McKinley
Theodore Roosevelt (several times, including once in 1903 while he was in office)
William H. Taft
Woodrow Wilson
Warren G. Harding
Herbert Hoover (Nov. 5, 1932, while campaigning unsuccessfully for a second term)
Harry Truman (on Oct. 15, 1948, while campaigning, and as president on May 14, 1950 to give an address at the UW-Madison Field House)
Bill Clinton (on Oct. 1, 1992, while campaigning, and on Feb. 14, 2008, to campaign for his wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton).
Other presidents visited elsewhere in the state, beginning with Zachary Taylor, who was a military officer in Green Bay, Portage, and Prairie du Chien from 1817-1836. Abraham Lincoln visited the state several times, beginning with his service in the Black Hawk War during the summer of 1832.
[Source: Wisconsin State Journal, May 14, 1950, and Nov. 4, 2009]
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