Presidential Visits to Madison | Wisconsin Historical Society

Historical Essay

Presidential Visits to Madison

Presidential Visits to Madison | Wisconsin Historical Society
Dictionary of Wisconsin History.

 

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.

Wisconsin State Journal, May 14, 1950, and Nov. 4, 2009

Learn More

See more images, essays, newspapers and records about Presidents in Wisconsin.

Explore more than 1,600 people, places and events in Wisconsin history.