Since 1876, Texas A&M University has hosted 10 U.S. presidents for numerous occasions and events, including Muster speeches, the opening of the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum, and most recently, the One America Appeal Concert.
Here’s a look at all the presidents who have visited Aggieland.
1909: William Howard Taft
Soon after President William Howard Taft’s inauguration, Charles Taft, the newly-elected president’s half-brother and director of the 165,000-acre Taft Ranch located in San Patricio County, Texas, extended an invitation to his sibling to visit Texas and the ranch community to rest after a strenuous campaign.
Beginning in September 1909, President Taft began an excursion that carried him from his summer home in Beverly, Massachusetts, to 30 states in five sections of the nation. The presidential train arrived in Texas on Oct. 18, 1909. After a four-day stay at the ranch, Taft’s train continued its route through the state. A large crowd gathered to meet the president at each station through which the train passed. Arriving in Bryan-College Station on Oct. 23, Taft addressed a group of students from the then relatively young Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas.
1937: Franklin D. Roosevelt
President Franklin D. Roosevelt visited campus early in his second term on May 11, 1937. He addressed more than 20,000 students in Kyle Field and reviewed the Corps of Cadets. To express appreciation for the visit, university officials gave the president a Hereford calf for his farm in Georgia.
1946: Dwight D. Eisenhower
In 1946, Dwight D. Eisenhower, then chief of staff of the U.S. Army, visited campus to deliver a Muster address. After spending years as president of Columbia University after World War II, Eisenhower ran for the U.S. presidency in 1952 and served two terms.