During the past century, 10 United States presidents have spoken in Athens, and Wednesday will mark the 11th.
President Barack Obama will join the ranks of Lyndon B. Johnson, William Howard Taft and Bill Clinton when he speaks on College Green at 6 p.m. Wednesday.
Ohio University students, faculty and staff claimed about 2,000 tickets to the event after queuing as early as 8 a.m. Sunday, said Shannon Welch, OU College Democrats president.
This isn’t the first time a president has brought thousands of students together as, throughout the years, past commander in chiefs have rallied support and sparked controversy at OU.
•William McKinley
More than one century ago, in October 1891, McKinley visited OU as a Republican candidate for Ohio governor six years before his presidency. At the speech, he urged listeners to “not fail” in electing a GOP legislature.
An Athens Messenger ad promoting McKinley’s speech referred to him as “the champion advocate of American labor and American industries.”
•William Howard Taft
In August 1908, Taft met with OU President Charles Grosvenor and later delivered a speech praising the Theodore Roosevelt administration.
“Never in the history of this country has there been an administration that passed more measures in the interest of the laboring classes than the present Republican administration,” Taft said.
•Theodore Roosevelt
The head of the progressive “Bull Moose Party,” Roosevelt was soft-spoken when he made the trip to Athens in May 1912.
“We stand for the fundamental rights of the people: for all American citizens regardless of political affiliation — for the plain people,” Roosevelt said.
•William G. Harding
A then-Ohio senator, Harding spoke at the Ewing Auditorium for 90 minutes in November 1916 and even bashed Honest Abe in the process.
“Abraham Lincoln could have kept us out of war,” Harding said. “All he needed to do was set the South going its own way.”
•Herbert Hoover
With the Great Depression reaching its lowest point, Hoover made a “five-minute whistle stop” in Athens in October 1932 on his train, the “Hoover Special,” while running for re-election against Franklin D. Roosevelt.
He spoke in front of about 3,000 people in Athens, according to a previous Post article. Hoover lost the election.
•John F. Kennedy
Like Obama, when Kennedy paid a visit to OU in September 1959, he was campaigning for an upcoming election.
According to a previous Post article, Kennedy’s youthful charm was “more appealing to the students than his political speech.”
•Lyndon B. Johnson
In May 1964, Johnson spoke to about 15,000 people from the West Portico of Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium, where Obama is expected to speak Wednesday.
His remarks included bringing equal justice to all citizens, abolishing human poverty, lengthening the human lifespan and eliminating illiteracy.
“Our goal is a Great Society in which no child is underfed or unschooled, no one is unemployed and no person is barred from any door because of his race, religion or place of birth,” Johnson said.
•Dwight D. Eisenhower
After landing in a helicopter on the field at Peden Stadium in October 1965, Eisenhower was awarded the honorary Doctor of Human Letters degree at OU.
“Universities like Ohio are the best hope for maintaining our present form of government,” Eisenhower said to more than 5,000 people at MemAud.
•Jimmy Carter
In May 1989, Carter spoke to 2,200 people at MemAud.
Richard Vedder, distinguished professor of economics at OU, organized Carter’s visit.
“He talked about the role of education in the American society and the importance of education,” Vedder said. “He gave a nice talk to a huge crowd that was very well received.”
Vedder said that he sees a lot of parallelism between Carter and Obama’s visits.
“It is funny, because the last president here (Carter) was a Democrat, too,” he said. “(Carter and Obama) had been in two presidential campaigns, and they both came to Athens.”
•Bill Clinton
Just four years ago, Clinton spoke on behalf of his wife Hillary’s presidential campaign at the Athens Community Center. Clinton talked about his wife’s international-affairs experience, the economy, health care and education reform.
Interim Dean of Students Jenny Hall-Jones said any presidential visit to campus is a privilege.
“It garners attention to your university, and no matter what your political affiliation, the opportunity to see the president is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Hall-Jones said.
bc822010@ohiou.edu
—Nicolien Buholzer, Josh Jamerson and Sara Jerde contributed to this story.
