Encyclopedia Dubuque
"Encyclopedia Dubuque is the online authority for all things Dubuque, written by the people who know the city best.”
Marshall Cohen—researcher and producer, CNN
Affiliated with the Local History Network of the State Historical Society of Iowa, and the Iowa Museum Association.
PRESIDENTIAL VISITS
PRESIDENTIAL VISITS. Given its population, Dubuque has long attracted presidential candidates. William McKinley, who served as president from 1897 to 1901, became the first sitting president to visit Dubuque. He arrived in the city on October 16, 1899 by train. He was cheered by thousands of citizens who lined the downtown streets and others who heard him speak at Washington Square (later WASHINGTON PARK.
Theodore Roosevelt, who served from 1901 until 1909, spoke at the square on June 2, 1903. An estimated 6,000 schoolchildren heard the address. More than 8,000 heard Roosevelt later in the day when he spoke outside the Businessmen's Club on Bluff Street.
Franklin D. Roosevelt, president from 1933 until his death in 1945, chose EAGLE POINT PARK on October 9, 1936 to view the new ZEBULON PIKE LOCK AND DAM and target his detractors. Some who disliked Roosevelt, called his New Deal a "classic boondoggle." Referring to the government sponsored work at Eagle Point Park, Roosevelt was heard to reply to the enjoyment of the citizens that "if Eagle Point Park was a boondoggle, it was the best one he had ever seen."
President Jimmy Carter, president from 1977 to 1981, visited the area south of Lock and Dam No. 11 to jog during a visit to the city on August 20, 1979.
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Source:
Hogstrom, Erik, "Presidents in the Tri-States," Telegraph Herald, February 20, 2022, p. 1C