Visits from presidents

Many United States presidents have come through Allen County:

• Feb. 23, 1860: Candidate Abraham Lincoln’s train passed through Lima.

• Sept. 9, 1879.: President Rutherford B. Hayes stopped for lunch at the French House.

• Dec. 24, 1879.: President Ulysses S. Grant stopped over during a train trip and had his portrait taken at Krauss Photo Gallery.

• Oct. 20, 1899: Presidential Candidate William Jennings Bryan held a political meeting on the Public Square.

• May 5, 1901: President William McKinley’s train passed through Lima.

• Sept. 21, 1902: President Theodore Roosevelt’s train passed through Lima.

• May 11, 1905: President Theodore Roosevelt’s train passed through Lima.

• Feb. 12, 1911: President William Howard Taft’s train stopped in Lima on his way to Washington, D.C. He appeared on the platform and spoke to residents for a few minutes.

• Oct. 30, 1911: President Taft’s train stopped in Lima on the way from Chicago to Pittsburgh. The train stopped at 10:29 p.m. but the president had “retired.”

• May 16, 1912: President Teddy Roosevelt was in a parade through Lima, speaking at Memorial Hall.

• Oct. 4, 1916: President Woodrow Wilson’s train made a whistle-stop.

• Oct. 19, 1920: Vice presidential candidate Franklin D. Roosevelt spoke at Memorial Hall.

• Oct. 28, 1944: President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s train passed through Lima.

• June 4, 1948: President Harry Truman’s train passed through Lima.

• Oct. 11, 1948: President Harry Truman’s train stopped in Lima for 12 minutes.

• Oct. 8, 1952: Then-Vice President Richard Nixon gave a whistle-stop speech for Dwight Eisenhower.

• Oct. 26, 1960: Presidential candidate Richard Nixon spoke to a crowd of 35,000 on the Square.

• May 2, 1962: Former President Dwight Eisenhower’s train passed through Lima unannounced on its way from Kansas to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. A waitress and her cousin got his autograph.

• Oct. 22, 1968: President Richard Nixon gave a speech in the Square to 12,000.

• June 7, 1976: President Gerald Ford gave a 35-minute speech at Lazarus.

• Oct. 15, 1980: Candidate Ronald Reagan gave a 24-minute speech to 10,000 on the Square.

• Oct. 12, 1984: President Ronald Reagan gave a 20-minute speech.

• Oct. 15, 1986: Presidential candidate George H. Bush spoke at the Allen County Airport.

• Oct. 27, 1992: President George H. Bush stayed at the Holiday Inn and is greeted by 2,500 at the airport.

• Oct. 24, 2003: President George W. Bush arrives by helicopter for a 35-minute speech at General Dynamics to 3,500.

• Aug. 28, 2004: President George W. Bush holds a campaign rally at Lima Senior High School.

• Feb. 24, 2008: Former President Bill Clinton campaigns for wife Hillary at Lima Senior.

• Aug. 31, 2008: Democrat presidential candidate Barack Obama quietly comes to Lima and attends a religious service at downtown’s St. Luke Lutheran Church before heading up Interstate 75 for a rally in Toledo.

• Nov. 11, 2012: President Barack Obama arrives via Air Force One and speaks to 3,800 at Lima Senior.

• March 20, 2019: President Donald Trump tours the Joint Systems Manufacturing Center.

• Sept. 22, 2o19: President Donald Trump flies into the Allen County Airport for a tour of Pratt Industries in Wapakoneta.

Then-Vice President Richard Nixon gives a whistle-stop speech for Dwight D. Eisenhower on Oct. 8, 1952.

https://www.limaohio.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/54/2020/09/web1_Nixon-special-10-8-52.jpgThen-Vice President Richard Nixon gives a whistle-stop speech for Dwight D. Eisenhower on Oct. 8, 1952. Courtesy of Allen County Historical Society