Summer White Houses: Presidential Retreats from Coolidge to Carter
The tradition of the summer White House allowed presidents to escape Washington while remaining on duty. Early presidents often returned to their own farms, while James Buchanan first used a cottage on the Old Soldiers' Home campus in D.C., later used by Abraham Lincoln to draft the Emancipation Proclamation. As transportation improved, presidents summered farther afield. John Adams retreated to Peace Field in Quincy, Massachusetts; Theodore Roosevelt to Sagamore Hill in Oyster Bay, New York; Ulysses S. Grant to Long Branch, New Jersey; Calvin Coolidge to the State Game Lodge in the Black Hills, South Dakota; Herbert Hoover to Rapidan Camp in Virginia; Franklin D. Roosevelt to Campobello Island, New Brunswick; Harry Truman to the Little White House in Key West, Florida; Dwight Eisenhower to his farm in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania; Lyndon B. Johnson to the LBJ Ranch in Texas; John F. Kennedy to the Kennedy Compound in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts; Jimmy Carter to his Georgia ranch and a rafting trip on the Salmon River in Idaho; Ronald Reagan to Rancho del Cielo near Santa Barbara, California; George H.W. Bush to Walker's Point in Kennebunkport, Maine; and Barack Obama to Blue Heron Farm on Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts. Many of these residences are preserved and open to the public.
Key facts
- The summer White House tradition allowed presidents to work away from the White House.
- James Buchanan was the first to use the Old Soldiers' Home cottage as a regular summer retreat.
- Abraham Lincoln drafted the Emancipation Proclamation at the Old Soldiers' Home cottage.
- John Adams' Peace Field in Quincy, Massachusetts, is preserved by the National Park Service.
- Theodore Roosevelt's Sagamore Hill in Oyster Bay, New York, is open for guided tours.
- Ulysses S. Grant's Long Branch cottage was demolished in the 1960s.
- Calvin Coolidge established his summer White House at the State Game Lodge in the Black Hills, South Dakota.
- Herbert Hoover's Rapidan Camp in Virginia required a trout stream and proximity to D.C.
- Franklin D. Roosevelt spent summers at Campobello Island, where he contracted polio.
- Harry Truman visited the Little White House in Key West, Florida, 12 times.
- Dwight Eisenhower's Gettysburg farm hosted world leaders to reduce Cold War tensions.
- Lyndon B. Johnson conducted 25% of his presidency at the LBJ Ranch in Texas.
- John F. Kennedy used the Kennedy Compound in Hyannis Port for his campaign and summer White House.
- Jimmy Carter's 1978 rafting trip on the Salmon River influenced the Central Idaho Wilderness Act.
- Ronald Reagan's Rancho del Cielo near Santa Barbara hosted Margaret Thatcher and Queen Elizabeth II.
- George H.W. Bush's Walker's Point in Kennebunkport, Maine, is not open to visitors.
- Barack Obama spent seven summers at Blue Heron Farm on Martha's Vineyard and later bought a home there.
Entities
Institutions
- National Park Service
- Old Soldiers' Home
- State Game Lodge
- Shenandoah National Park
- Little White House
- LBJ Ranch
- Kennedy Compound
- Central Idaho Wilderness Act
- California State Landmark
Locations
- Quincy, Massachusetts
- Massachusetts
- United States
- Oyster Bay, New York
- New York
- Long Branch, New Jersey
- New Jersey
- Black Hills, South Dakota
- South Dakota
- Rochelle, Virginia
- Virginia
- Blue Ridge Mountains
- Campobello Island, New Brunswick
- New Brunswick
- Canada
- Hyde Park, New York
- Key West, Florida
- Florida
- Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
- Pennsylvania
- Pedernales River, Texas
- Texas
- Hyannis Port, Massachusetts
- Cape Cod
- Salmon River, Idaho
- Idaho
- Santa Barbara, California
- California
- Kennebunkport, Maine
- Maine
- Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts
- Chilmark, Massachusetts