What Counts As Presidential History?

I’ll happily go out of my way to visit presidential history sites.  But what types of sites make the cut?

Presidential history sites can take on many forms, but in my opinion, there are limits on what really counts as presidential history.  This post outlines what I think counts and what I think doesn’t.

Category 1:  Obvious Presidential History Sites

I will always count the following types of sites for any POTUS:

  • birth places
  • death places
  • burial sites
  • homes
  • inauguration sites

Category 2:  Places where a President was when Something of Note Happened

This one gets more subjective and something I would evaluate on a case-by-case basis.  The events that occur at these places can occur before, during, or after the president’s time in office.  The following are examples of places that would fall under this category.

  • Sites of significant speeches
  • Sites such as battlefields or other places where a president played a significant role in a military event
  • Sites of significant visits or vacations
  • Sites of assassination attempts

Category 3:  Sites Dedicated to Presidential History

This category leaves room to include sites that where the president may have never been, but that do server a role in preserving presidential history (we’re talking mainly museums here).  This category is also pretty subjective but mainly consists of the following:

  • Presidential Libraries and Museums run by the National Archives
  • Other Presidential Libraries and Museums maintained by private organizations
  • Museums with exhibits dedicated to presidents (especially with presidential artifacts)
  • Places with stage shows/other performing arts dedicated to presidential history

What Doesn’t Count?

To put it simply,presidential history sites need to have some presidential history associated with them.  Some sites may honor a president with their name or some artwork, but that alone doesn’t make it presidential history.

As an example, the picture included in this post is of the Lincoln Monument in Laramie, Wyoming. The state of Wyoming decided to commission the monument in honor of Lincoln’s 150th birthday.  That’s great and all…but not presidential history.  If it was maybe marking Honest Abe’s birthplace or the location of the Lincoln-Douglass debates as opposed to a rest area sitting alongside Interstate 80, then sure.  But a monument put up because Lincoln was a cool guy?  Nah.  (I would totally stop at the rest area and take a picture though if I was driving through Wyoming).

These type of sites do not count in and of themselves without some associated history.

  • Statues
  • Monuments
  • Cities/buildings named after presidents
  • Places a president gave a campaign stump speech/stayed the night/ate dinner, etc.

Of course, these places may end up counting if they also fit into one of the three categories I listed above.  So, a random hotel Jimmy Carter stayed in one night on the campaign trail wouldn’t count if that’s all that can be said about it.  But the hotel where Warren G Harding died or the hotel where Richard Nixon gave his “I am not a crook” speech definitely count (and I’ve been to both).

Who counts?

I discussed in a previous post that all US Presidents count.  But does anyone else?  In a word, no.  But…there are some situations where there’s someone who is maybe presidential adjacent.  First ladies, other immediate family members, vice presidents, and presidents of the Continental Congress would fall into this category and I may include a post on one of them now and then.  And…I’m not a fan of the confederacy, and while Jefferson Davis is definitely not a US president, he’s at least close enough that I’ll probably include him at some point (but with less reverence than any actual POTUS. Even less than Franklin Pierce!)