The Presidential Bucket List...so far

     I mentioned in my introductory post for this blog that I have a number of bucket lists related to travel goals. In this bucket list I combine my love for travel with my love for history. My earliest historical interest was focused on the U.S. Presidents (which grew exponentially during a road trip between 2nd and 3rd grades). In fact, it was on this road trip with my parents and grandmother that I crossed the 1st two presidents off of the list. 

    It is important to note what criteria I use to determine what qualifies as an official presidential site. Most of the earlier presidents do not have "libraries" like all of the presidents from Herbert Hoover to the present have. Additionally, after a president leaves office it takes a fair amount of time for a library to be established. Our two most recent presidents, Obama and Trump, do not yet have libraries built/open. It is not just libraries that I consider as qualifying sites. Additionally I also count homes, birthplaces, and gravesites as qualifying sites. Some presidents have "sites" located in several locations, while others have few if any open to the public. I don't consider it a requirement to have taken a tour or to have necessarily gone inside (because again, it is not always possible). And so without further ado, I will give an overview of the presidential sites I have visited. Out of 46 presidents, I have visited sites connected to 30 of them.

• George Washington: On the aforementioned road trip during my summer vacation one of the sites we visited was Washington's estate, Mount Vernon, in Virginia. Given how long it has been since I took this trip, I don't remember many details. Washington and his wife, Martha, are both buried here as well. The tour covered a great deal of the estate, including some of the slave quarters.
• Thomas Jefferson: On the same trip as above we also made a stop at Jefferson's estate. Monticello. Very similar in nature to the experience at Mount Vernon. Jefferson and his wife, Martha, are both buried at the estate.
• Andrew Jackson: Andrew Jackson's home, The Hermitage, is located in Nashville, Tennessee...as are the gravesites of Jackson and his wife, Rachel. The grounds are quite lovely and the tour covered quite a bit of the home.
• Martin Van Buren: This is one of the sites where I didn't have the opportunity to go inside the home, but I have seen the exterior of the house. Located in Kinderhook, New York not far away from the Hyde Park home of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The only reason I didn't go inside is that we arrived just at closing time. If I have the chance I would like to go back for a real visit.
• William Henry Harrison: Located in Vincennes, Indiana Grouseland is the site of the William Henry Harrison Mansion and Museum. I visited this location at the end of a "presidential road trip" through Ohio in the spring of 2015. 
• Zachary Taylor: The only site affiliated with Zachary Taylor that is currently open to the public is his tomb. Taylor is buried in what is known as the Zachary Taylor National Cemetery in Louisville, Kentucky. I stopped here in February of 2012 en route to Lexington, Kentucky and Knoxville, Tennessee. 
• Abraham Lincoln: There are sites affiliated with Lincoln in Kentucky (where he was born), in Indiana (his boyhood home), and of course in Illinois. I have only visited the sites in Springfield, Illinois (which are probably the best known). It is possible to take a short tour of his home. He is buried in Oak Ridge cemetery along with his wife, Mary Todd, and three of their 4 sons. More recently, a modern museum (similar to the libraries of our modern presidents) has opened in downtown Springfield (near the home and the state capitol building). I have been inside the museum but did not have the time to take the full tour (another reason to go back).
• Andrew Johnson: His home in Greeneville, Tennessee has a small museum with a very nicely organized tour. He is buried nearby in a national cemetery along with his wife, Eliza.
• Ulysses S. Grant: Thus far I have been to two sites affiliated with Grant. The first is commonly known as Grant's Farm (there is also another home nearby called Whitehaven) located just outside of downtown St. Louis, Missouri. The farm is only part of a tour around the grounds as a whole, going inside has never been an option. I have also been to the home in New York where Grant wrote his autobiography as he was dying of throat cancer. There is a nice, short tour of that home as well as a fantastic view of the Hudson River Valley. Fair warning if you make the trek to this home...in getting to the home site it is necessary to pass by a prison and be stopped by security as you arrive and depart. The mountain location, Mt. McGregor, is quite steep and not the easiest of drives (even in an automatic). 
• Rutherford B. Hayes: The Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center is located in Fremont, Ohio and is similar in style to the more modern presidential libraries. The exhibits are quite interesting and the museum is well done. Hayes and his wife, Lucy were reinterred on the grounds in 1915. I visited here on the Ohio Presidential Road Trip of 2015. 
• Benjamin Harrison: The grandson of William Henry Harrison lived in Indianapolis. I was lucky enough to end up with a "private" tour of his home in March of 2012. As we were the only people to arrive when we did, we got a very nice personal tour with the well-informed tour guide. 
• William McKinley: Canton, Ohio is home to the William McKinley Presidential Library and Museum as well as the National Memorial Site where McKinley and his wife, Ida are buried. The museum does not adequately compare to other presidential libraries I have visited. It still has some good exhibits and is informative.
• Theodore Roosevelt: Of the two main sites affiliated with TR, I have been to his birthplace in New York City. At the time of my visit in the summer of 2016, it was not possible to go inside. 
• William Howard Taft: Taft's home and museum are located in Cincinnati, Ohio and offer good exhibits. His sites were the last Ohio stop of the 2015 road trip. Taft is also one of only two presidents buried in Arlington National Cemetery. 
• Woodrow Wilson: The Woodrow Wilson birthplace and museum is located in Staunton, Virginia. I had the honor of being able to conduct research for my undergraduate history paper in the library on the grounds. In Columbia, South Carolina there is a home in which Wilson lived with his family for a few years. I stopped by this house on a trip through South Carolina in October of 2021. The museum on the inside is unrelated to Wilson.
• Warren G. Harding: Harding lived in Marion, Ohio and is also buried here along with his wife, Florence. The tomb is fairly extravagant. The home, by contrast, is small and modest. This was one of the last stops on the Ohio Presidential Road Trip in 2015.
• Herbert Hoover: Hoover's home and gravesite are located in West Branch, Iowa. In the modern presidential library system, Hoover's library is the first. It is quite well done and is very informative. I was living in Iowa briefly when we took a day trip here.
• Franklin Delano Roosevelt: Roosevelt's home and library are located in Hyde Park, New York, not far from the Van Buren home in Kinderhook. FDR is buried here alongside his wife, Eleanor. I had the opportunity to visit here in the fall of 2009. The library is quite nice. Outside is also a piece of the Berlin Wall...a feature not uncommon in several of the libraries.
• Harry S. Truman: Truman's home, library, and gravesite are located in Independence, Missouri. I first visited here in early 1994. I saw his home for the first time in 2018, but have not toured the inside. Truman's birthplace is in a small town about 2 hours south of the Kansas City metro area, in Lamar, Missouri. It's free to tour. I took this tour in April of 2022.
• Dwight D. Eisenhower: The Eisenhower boyhood home, museum, and gravesite are located in Abilene, Kansas. The museum is quite extensive and very well done. I first visited here in the summer of 2016.
• John F. Kennedy: I haven't made it to Boston yet, so for now the only thing I can cross off is his gravesite in Arlington National Cemetery. An unofficial museum is located in Dallas that is dedicated to the history of his assassination. This museum is not a part of the presidential library system, but is quite well done with some nice exhibits. I visited here in June of 2022.
• Lyndon B. Johnson: At the time of my trip to Texas in June of 2022 the only site open for visitors was the library located on the campus of University of Texas Austin. As a word of caution - the navigation on my iPhone could not direct me to the correct parking lot for the library. As a result I drove in a few circles. Calling the staff at the library was frustrating as they weren't very helpful until I was finally able to get them to tell the number of the lot needed. Once I had the parking lot number, Siri was able to get me to the right place. The museum itself is great with nice exhibits, however, the layout of the museum split up over a few floors was a bit confusing.
• Richard Nixon: Nixon's birthplace and gravesite is located just behind his presidential library in Yorba Linda, California. Just under an hour from Los Angeles and not difficult to find. The museum has some nice exhibits and is organized well (although a bit out of order chronologically). The grounds are well kept with a nice garden between the library and the birthplace.
• Gerald Ford: To date I have only been to the site which commemorates Ford's birthplace in Omaha, Nebraska. The house is no longer standing and instead is a nice park with the Betty Ford Rose Garden. It's not very well marked and finding it is a bit off the beaten path in Omaha. Ford's presidential library is located in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
• Jimmy Carter: The Carter presidential library is located in Atlanta, Georgia. It is situated in a nice park-like setting. It is laid out well with nice exhibits, including a replica of the Oval Office. With President Carter still alive, I'm not sure if his home in Plains, Georgia is open to the public.
• Ronald Reagan: Located also about an hour's drive from Los Angeles (in the opposite direction of Richard Nixon) you can find Reagan's presidential library and gravesite. The view of Simi Valley from the gravesite is quite spectacular. Included in the library is Air Force One and Marine One (both of which you can walk through). 
• George H. W. Bush: Bush 41's library and gravesite is located on the campus of Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas. Getting to College Station from Dallas is long and tedious (no interstate highway for much of the drive). The library is beautiful both and inside and out. It's a little bit of a walk to the gravesite (around a pond) but worth the effort. 
• Bill Clinton: The Clinton Presidential Center is located on the riverfront in Little Rock, Arkansas. Although the exterior design is a bit odd (some say it looks like a trailer), the exhibit is very well done.
• George W. Bush: Bush 43's library is located in the Dallas metro area (on the campus of Southern Methodist University). My only criticisms were that the entrance into the museum was not very well marked and parking was not free (perhaps the only one I can think of that charges for parking). One of the prominent displayed items is a piece of twisted steel from the World Trade Center. I also enjoyed looking at some of the paintings done by the former president.
• Donald Trump: This might be considered a bit of a technicality, however, I have been inside the Trump Tower in New York City. Although my visit was before he became president, it is pretty well known that Trump had offices here. He has not been out of office long enough to have his library established (like Barack Obama).