Presidential Visits
Presidential Visits
August 31, 2009
After Last Stop at Alley’s, And Storms of All Kinds, First Family Bids Farewell
At 4:23 p.m. on Sunday, the helicopters took off from the Martha’s Vineyard Airport, bringing to an end President Obama’s week-long first vacation since winning office, spent on the Island.
As Mr. Obama, his family and entourage took off, the clouds which had dumped some four inches of rain over the previous two days finally broke, and they left in watery sunshine.
July 12, 2007
Former First Lady Visited Vineyard
Lady Bird Johnson, the gracious widow of former President Lyndon Baines Johnson, who was credited for her steadying influence on his volatile personality, died Wednesday at her home in Austin, Tex., of natural causes. She was 94.
August 31, 1993
First Family Calls Visit to the Island A Magical Respite
President Clinton and his family concluded their summer vacation on Sunday night with hundreds of handshakes and a heartfelt goodbye for the people of the Vineyard who had so genially hosted them for 11 days.
“My family never needed a vacation more and it’s hard to imagine how this one could have been better....Now we are going home and we are immensely grateful for all you have done. We are refreshed and renewed for all the American people,” said Mr.
August 20, 1993
President Clinton Lands on the Vineyard; Family Begins Stay at Island White House
President Clinton and his family arrived on Martha’s Vineyard late yesterday afternoon to begin a 10-day summer vacation on the Island, the most extended stay here of any sitting president in history.
August 4, 1989
Lady Bird Johnson
When Lady Bird Johnson walks among wildflowers at the home of an Island friend near Watcha Pond, she steps lightly and speaks gently. Indeed, the former First Lady is home on the Vineyard or anywhere in the world among these perennials that have touched her life from childhood days in east Texas to White House years in the nation’s capital. Even today, more than 20 years after Mrs.
September 16, 1980
Former President Richard M. Nixon Visits the Island
Former President Richard M. Nixon was a traffic stopper on lower Main street in Edgartown Saturday morning.
At about 10 a.m., Mr. Nixon, his longtime friends Charles G. (Bebe) Rebozo and Robert H. Abplanalp came into the yacht club pier in a 50-foot Hatteras. There they were met by state police officer Daniel Flynn, about a dozen Secret Service men and a handful of bystanders and yachtsmen involved in the finals of the National Shields Championships.
Until the night before, when the 110-foot motor yacht Star Mist leased by Mr.
August 22, 1978
Mrs. Onassis Breaks Silence; Says She Owns Gay Head Tract
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis broke her long-standing silence yesterday to confirm that she is the new owner of the 375-acre tract of ocean front land in Gay Head.
The Gazette reported Mrs. Onassis' ownership last Friday. It was that story that ended months of rumor and speculation about the Onassis purchase. The rumors had circulated both here on the Vineyard and on the mainland.
August 18, 1978
Mrs. Onassis Is Purchaser of 375-Acre Gay Head Tract
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis is the purchaser of one of the most important open tracts of land on the Vineyard, specifically 375 acres of strategically placed property in the Squibnocket Pond area of Gay Head.
The Gazette confirmed Mrs. Onassis' ownership after a widespread check of sources in Washington, New York and elsewhere.
Until now the acquisition of this land, variously known as the Hornblower property and the Red Gate Farm, has been clouded in secrecy.
July 17, 1962
Like Bugs to a Bulb Vacationers Rally to the Lure of Caroline, Jackie and the President
For a few minutes on Sunday afternoon, the Vineyard seemed supremely apathetic to a visit by the President of the United States. But that was because his arrival was unheralded, and when word got out that the cabin cruiser which had tied up at Edgartown carried a boatload of Kennedys - starring Caroline toward the bow - pandemonium broke loose around the harbor.
The day had been chilly and overcast, so only a handful of fishermen were dangling lines from the twon wharf.
December 29, 1961
President Kennedy Slept in Room L at Ocean View, and This Is How It Happened, Rep. Sylvia Recalls
President Kennedy Slept in Room L at Ocean View, and This Is How It Happened, Rep. Sylvia Recalls.
The Visit of young Jack Kennedy to Martha’s Vineyard as a young yachtsman in the summer of 1941 hasn’t been forgotten. The adventures of the future President and his brother began before they reached the scene of the regatta at Edgartown.
An earlier part of the story is supplied by Rep. Joseph A. Sylvia, former proprietor of the Ocean View Hotel of Oak Bluffs, and his housekeeper, at the hotel, of that time, Mrs. Frank Silvia.
