Presidential Visits

August 28, 1874

Arrival of President Grant

Vineyard Gazette
Today has been a notable day in the history of Martha’s Vineyard. The President of the Republic has landed upon our shore, has partaken of our hospitality, and has received in person the salutations of our people. Other days he will be with us but this day, his first day, is especially noteworthy.
Presidential Visits
September 1, 1998

President Speaks of Reconciliation at Civil Rights Anniversary Event

Julie Dulude
President Clinton shed the defiance that characterized the televised address following his August 17 grand jury testimony for a more humble tone when he spoke about forgiveness to a diverse gatheri
Civil rights
John Lewis
U.S. Congress
Presidential Visits
Bill Clinton
December 4, 2019
Obama Martha's Vineyard House

President Obama Buys Home on Edgartown Great Pond

Julia Wells
Former President Obama and his family are permanent homeowners on Martha’s Vineyard, after completing the purchase this week of a large home in the coastal perimeter of Edgartown.
Barack Obama
Presidential Visits

2004

August 27, 2004

Forum on Race Relations Draws Full-House Crowd Into Old Whaling Church

C.K. Wolfson
Barack Obama
African American History
Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice
Presidential Visits

With whispers that a hundred more were waiting outside, they filled the hall, charged with the anticipation of hearing the charismatic new voice of the Democratic Party, United States Senatorial candidate from Illinois, Barack Obama, and listening as a panel of luminaries offered their views on Brown vs. Board of Education: Mission Accomplished?

1998

September 1, 1998

President Speaks of Reconciliation at Civil Rights Anniversary Event

Julie Dulude
Civil rights
John Lewis
U.S. Congress
Presidential Visits
Bill Clinton

President Clinton shed the defiance that characterized the televised address following his August 17 grand jury testimony for a more humble tone when he spoke about forgiveness to a diverse gathering of more than 500 Vineyard residents and visitors at Union Chapel in Oak Bluffs on Friday.

1993

August 31, 1993

First Family Calls Visit to the Island A Magical Respite

Julia Wells
Presidential Visits
Bill Clinton
Hillary Rodham Clinton
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.
 
August 20, 1993

President Clinton Lands on the Vineyard; Family Begins Stay at Island White House

Julia Wells
Presidential Visits
Bill Clinton
Vernon Jordan
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. The President, First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton and daughter Chelsea, along with an accompanying entourage of White House staff, landed at the Martha’s Vineyard Airport to an enormous crowd of cheering, clapping, singing Island people.
 
It was a poignant and historic moment for the Vineyard.
 

1980

September 16, 1980

Former President Richard M. Nixon Visits the Island

Phyllis Meras
Presidential Visits
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.
 

1978

August 22, 1978

Mrs. Onassis Breaks Silence; Says She Owns Gay Head Tract

Richard Reston
Presidential Visits
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
Red Gate Farm

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.

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