The Presidents: From Their House to the White House

By Richard F. F. Edington

Reading about the lives of our chief executives is one thing, seeing where they lived in their youth and as adults is entirely different and enlightening. The Presidents: From their House to the White House provides a convenient guide to these historic sites. They range from simple log cabins to magnificent mansions on grand estates. Here you will find brief life stories and accomplishments of the presidents plus little-known fascinating facts. You'll also take a trip back in time to see what everyday life was like in these legendary homes. The book covers some seventy presidential residences, namely birthplaces, boyhood homes, and adult homes. It is arranged alphabetically by state to make them easy to locate when traveling. The author is an award-winning photographer, and his photos will hopefully inspire you to see the homes of the presidents for yourself.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Page Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Nov 15, 2020
• ISBN: 9781646285945

Book preview

Arkansas

A drive along Interstate 30 between Little Rock and Texarkana will conveniently take you to sites of the only president from Arkansas. Bill Clinton’s boyhood home is found in the small town of Hope and his library/museum is located in the capital city. While in Little Rock, be sure to visit the stately capitol building where Clinton served as governor.

William Jefferson Clinton (42nd president 1993–2001); Boyhood home: 117 South Hervey, Hope, AR; [phone]; www.nps.gov/wicl.

Bill Clinton was born in Hope, AR, in 1946 and lived there until he was seven years old when the family moved to Hot Springs, AR. He graduated from Georgetown University and became a Rhodes scholar at Oxford. At Yale Law School, he met Hillary Rodham whom he eventually married.

After becoming attorney general of Arkansas, Clinton was elected governor in 1978 at the early age of thirty-two. Their daughter, Chelsea, was born while the couple lived in the governor’s mansion. He lost his bid for reelection two years later but regained the governorship at the next election and went on to serve as governor for an additional eight years.

In 1992, Bill Clinton won a surprising victory over Republican incumbent, George H.W. Bush, to become the 42nd president and was reelected in 1996. During his administration, the country’s large deficit was converted to a record surplus, and unemployment improved to the lowest level in years. However, personal scandals led to his impeachment in the House; he was acquitted in the Senate.

Hillary Clinton, also a lawyer, was an active advisor to her husband while first lady. She led a task force that tried to reform national healthcare, but it was not successful. After leaving the White House, the Clintons settled in New York where Hillary was elected US Senator and later became Secretary of State for four years under President Obama. She became the first female presidential candidate of a major party in 2016 but lost in the general election to Republican, Donald Trump.

Interesting Facts

Four months before he was born, William’s father, William Jefferson Blyth III, was killed in an auto accident. Bill Clinton’s birth name was William Jefferson Blyth IV. While a teenager, he legally changed his last name to Clinton in recognition of his stepfather, Roger Clinton.

Before her marriage to Bill, Hillary Rodham served on the staff of the House Judiciary Committee. In 1974, she drafted the papers for Richard Nixon’s possible impeachment.

The Home

With the loss of her husband, Virginia Blythe brought her son home from the hospital to live with her parents at the house on South Hervey. Bill was mostly raised by his grandparents in his early years, while Virginia was away at nursing school.

The modest two-story frame house was built in 1917. The furniture and decorating are typical of the forties. The first floor consists of living room with fireplace, small kitchen, and laundry room. The second floor has the grandparent’s bedroom, Virginia’s bedroom, and Billy’s bedroom plus a bathroom. The home was on a quiet residential street in the forties but is now on a busy four-lane road. The National Park Service administers the site, including a visitor center in a former house next door.

When Bill was four, his mother remarried, and the family moved to another house in Hope that is privately owned today.

Bill Clinton’s boyhood home

First floor living room

Young Bill’s bedroom

California

Although it is the largest state in the United States in population, only one president was born and raised in California—Richard Nixon. His birthplace home has been preserved in Yorba Linda, next to the president’s library and museum.

Ronald Reagan and Gerald Ford resided in California in their adult years, but their homes are not open to the general public. While in the Los Angeles area, be sure to visit the Ronald Reagan Library and Museum in Simi Valley. One of the highlights is the Boeing 707 plane used as Air Force One by several presidents, including Reagan.

Richard Milhaus Nixon (37th President, 1969–1974); Birthplace: 18001 Yorba Linda Boulevard, Yorba Linda, CA; [phone]; www.nixonlibrary.gov.

The story of Richard Nixon is perhaps one of the biggest ups and downs in presidential history. Nixon’s life began in a Los Angeles suburb in 1913 as part of a Quaker family. He was a bright student who obtained a law degree at Duke University. After starting a law practice in California, Richard served in the Navy during World War II. He started his political career by becoming a congressman in 1947 and then as a senator in 1951. The Republican Party chose him to be Dwight Eisenhower’s running mate in 1952 and he served as Ike’s vice president for eight years. After losing the presidential bid in 1960 in a close race with John Kennedy and also losing the California governorship in 1962, he returned to private law. In 1968, Nixon made a second run at the presidency, and this time he won, followed by reelection in 1972.

Nixon’s years in the White House also contained peaks and valleys. His efforts to end the long controversial Vietnam War were realized in 1973. Nixon was credited with achieving groundbreaking relations with China that resulted in important trade agreements. The US signed a chemical weapons treaty with the Soviet Union as well as the Strategic Arms Limitations Talks (SALT).

Then trouble began in the spring of 1972 when it was discovered that members of Nixon’s reelection committee had bugged the offices of the Democratic Committee in a building known as Watergate. Nixon denied any involvement in the break-in and was reelected by a landslide in November. Over many months, several of Nixon’s aids were indicted as being part of the scheme and cover-up. Meanwhile, Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned in October 1973 due to bribery allegations when he was governor of Maryland. Nixon appointed Gerald Ford to replace him.

The president had installed secret tape devices in the Oval Office whereby all conversations were recorded. When presented with a court order to produce the tapes, Nixon refused. It was believed that these tapes would prove his knowledge of the Watergate affair and the cover-up. Ultimately, he was threatened with impeachment and resigned in August 1974. Gerald Ford thus became the country’s 38th president, the only one who was never elected president or vice president. One month later, Ford pardoned Nixon for all actions involving the Watergate scandal.

Interesting Fact

After returning to California from the second World War, Richard Nixon saw a classified ad which read: Wanted: congressional candidate. Times were different then. He got the job as a candidate, was elected to the House of Representatives, and the beginning of a long and storied political career.

The Home

Richard Nixon was born in 1913 in his parents’ bedroom in the small, one-and-a-half-story frame house in Yorba Linda. His father built the house on his lemon and orange grove property. Richard and his three brothers occupied the same bedroom on the second floor. He learned to play several musical instruments, including the piano found in the house. Many of the furnishings are original Nixon family items. When Richard was nine years old, the family moved to Whittier, where his father opened a general store and a gas station.

First Lady Patricia Nixon died in 1993, and Richard shortly thereafter in 1994. Both are buried on the grounds of the birthplace and library.

Richard Nixon’s birthplace, Yorba Linda, CA

Georgia

Three very diverse presidential homes are located in Georgia. One is an urban, boyhood home that was the parsonage of his minister father. A farm is the setting for another president’s boyhood residence. The third is a southern retreat and the site of the death of a famous president.

Woodrow Wilson (28th President, 1913–1921); Boyhood home: 419 7th St., Augusta, GA; [phone]; www.wilsonboyhoodhome.org.

In 1858 when Woodrow Wilson was two years old, his Presbyterian pastor father took a new position, moving the family from Staunton, VA to Augusta, GA. Young Wilson spent much of his youth there until they moved again in 1870 at age fourteen. Thus, he witnessed firsthand some of the horrors of the Civil War in the Confederate South. His father’s church became a war hospital, and the churchyard became a temporary prison camp for Union soldiers. This early exposure to war influenced his strong attitude to preserving peace in his presidential years.

Interesting Fact

With his home across the street from the church, Woodrow saw both Jefferson Davis and Robert E. Lee on visits there. He also viewed Union troops patrolling the town during Reconstruction.

The Home

The Presbyterian parsonage (or manse) is a large, two-and-a-half stories, brick structure that was new when the Wilson family moved there. It had all the latest conveniences, including running water and gas lights. After undergoing a ten-year restoration project, the house was opened to the public in 2001.

Some of the furniture is original to the Wilson family, and some is true to that era. The pastor’s study contains Woodrow’s father’s desk, and he recalls learning to reading in this room. The dining