The history of presidential visits to Alaska, starting with Warren G. Harding’s ill-fated ‘Voyage of Understanding’

Part of a continuing weekly series on local history by local historian David Reamer. Have a question about Anchorage history or an idea for a future article? Go to the form at the bottom of this story.

After William H. Seward retired from public office in 1868, he traveled, finally having enough free time to see more of the world. The former secretary of state is best known today for negotiating the 1867 purchase of Alaska from Russia, and he made sure to include the vast territory on his itinerary.

While in Sitka, on Aug. 12, 1869, he addressed the residents. The entirety of the long speech is available online via the Library of Congress. As is typical for visiting dignitaries, he pandered to the crowd. He said Alaskans were kind, the land was beautiful, and he lamented having “seen too little” of both. He spoke of natural resources and strong residents. He even predicted statehood, a distant goal in 1869.

And, of course, he commented on the weather: “The weather of this one broad climate of Alaska is severely criticized in outside circles for being too wet and too cold. Nevertheless, it must be a fastidious person who complains of climates in which, while the eagle delights to soar, the hummingbird does not disdain to flutter.” He added, “It is an honest climate, for it makes no pretensions to constancy.”

In 1860, Seward was a leading candidate for the Republican nomination for president. In fact, on the first two ballots at that year’s Republican Convention, he drew more votes than eventual winner Abraham Lincoln, though never enough votes for the nomination. In this way, Seward was Alaska’s first brush with even a near-president, decades before a sitting American chief of state made the trip north.

[The improbable history of penguins in Alaska]

From the beginning of American rule through statehood, presidential visits to Alaska were something to dream about, a seeming impossibility. Certainly, the first presidential tour of Alaska did not establish a new custom.

In June 1923, President Warren G. Harding departed on an expansive Voyage of Understanding that included the first trips to Alaska and Canada by a sitting president. The trip served multiple purposes for an administration plagued by scandals. It was a strategic retreat, public-relations gesture, early reelection campaign, fact-finding mission and vacation. As for Alaska’s inclusion in the itinerary, Harding was inspired by a friend who had been part of the Klondike Gold Rush.

Harding’s adventure in Alaska began in Metlakatla, followed by stops in Ketchikan, Wrangell, Juneau, Skagway and Seward. From Seward, his party took the train into the Interior. His primary destinations were Mount McKinley National Park, now Denali National Park; Fairbanks, where he visited what is now the University of Alaska Fairbanks; and Nenana, where he drove in a golden spike signifying the completion of the Alaska Railroad. He allotted only two hours for Anchorage, which reflected the town’s limited importance.

Nevertheless, Anchorage residents prepared for the biggest celebrity the little town had seen in its eight-year history. The band practiced, and many speeches were written. For some local retailers, the event was primarily a moneymaking bonanza. The Anchorage Photo Supply Co. printed a vast surplus of Harding portraits, souvenirs for the crowd. Gordon’s clothing store advised locals to dress nicely. Their advertisements asked, “Are you prepared to meet him with the dignity and consideration that his position before the whole world merits? Our beautiful dresses, handsome coats and capes, stunning suits, dainty blouses, sweaters, skirts, shoes and hosiery will help you to make the right appearance.”

Thirty minutes before the president’s arrival, late July 13, 1923, a prearranged siren blasted a warning heard through the community. Homes emptied as residents poured themselves around the train station. Promptly at 9:30 pm, the president’s train pulled into the station. Included in the party were first lady Florence Harding, Secretary of Agriculture Henry Wallace, Secretary of the Interior Hubert Work, Alaska Gov. Scott Bone and other dignitaries. Also present was future president and then-Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover.

Harding stepped off the train as the local band played “Hail to the Chief.” The presidential party was swept into waiting cars and paraded from the train station to the dock, then around the town’s few streets. They stopped at a stand erected on Fourth Avenue.

Mayor Michael Conroy, Anchorage’s second mayor, spoke first: “We hope that this trip will be filled with pleasurable experiences and that the memory will call insistently for another visit in the not too distant future.” He handed Harding a Sydney Laurence painting of Denali. Laurence was perhaps not nearly as famous as he would become; the newspaper misspelled his first name as “Sidney.”

Then it was Harding’s turn. He opened with praise for the young city, claiming it was the “healthiest, sturdiest infant I have ever seen.” He closed, like so many politicians, with vague promises. “We have learned much on this trip which will be productive of a greater understanding and deeper sympathy. ... We have come to many conclusions and on my return to Washington will be better equipped to aid you and in this I pledge all earnestness and sincerity.”

The rest of the dignitaries followed with their own speeches. Secretary Work said he was happy to be in a community with room to expand, a compliment for Anchorage also meant as an insult for Juneau. Governor Bone added a line to his follow-up speech, saying, “I live in a community which can expand.”

Then gifts and honors were dispersed. On behalf of the local press, Jack Lincke, a reporter for the Anchorage Daily Times, gifted Harding, a former newspaperman, with an ornamental knife. Made by local jeweler Fred Carlquist, the curved blade was 6 inches of walrus ivory inlaid with a gold plate inscribed, “From the press of Anchorage to President Harding.” The handle was gold from a single, large Iditarod nugget. The knife was presented upon a velvet cushion mounted on a pair of miniature snowshoes. Mrs. Harding was given a far less spectacular framed poem.

The Anchorage chapter of the Pioneers of Alaska made Harding an honorary member. Their declaration noted, “The recipient shall not be liable for the payment of dues, nor shall he be entitled to vote or hold office, but he shall enjoy all the privileges of the society.” Thus, the president of the United States was ineligible to chair a Pioneers meeting at a cafe. The organization also sent Harding some official buttons.

The visit prompted a geyser of purple prose from the Anchorage Daily Times. “We welcome him as the harbinger of an era of happiness and prosperity; we welcome him for honoring Alaska with his presence, setting as a precedent in this visit a tradition which will go far toward bringing the various and varied interests of the nation into closer harmony; we welcome him on the part of the people of Alaska and Anchorage especially, and trust he will feel the psychic influence of that great brotherly spirit so expressive of our citizenry.”

In all, Harding spent only a little more than two hours in Anchorage, less time than he spent on an unscheduled excursion to Skagway. At 11:45 p.m., the train pulled away for its journey north.

On July 18, the Voyage of Understanding returned to Anchorage on its way back to Seward. Though local officials pleaded for Harding to spend the night, he stayed only an hour, long enough for the train to change crews. Unencumbered by the protocol of a formal reception, Harding joined a small party that drove out to Lake Spenard. An hour after arriving, he was gone. From Seward, the party sailed to Valdez, Cordova and Sitka before leaving Alaska for Vancouver, Seattle and San Francisco.

He did not make it all the way back to Washington, D.C. Two days after leaving Sitka, he complained of sharp chest pains. By San Francisco, the visibly exhausted Harding had developed signs of a respiratory illness. On Aug. 2, 1923, he died from a heart attack while listening to his wife read a flattering magazine portrayal. Since then, some have blamed his death on shellfish from Sitka or even poison. However, everyone in the traveling party ate the same food, and the latter allegation is an evidence-free conspiracy theory that deserves no further attention.

Despite the obvious wishes of Alaskans, Harding’s doomed trip north did not inspire imitators. The next presidential visit came in 1944 and under very different circumstances, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt made a three-week inspection tour of Hawaii and Alaska during World War II.

Roosevelt’s trip to Alaska is notable in that he did not visit any town. On Aug. 3, 1944, he arrived in Adak aboard the heavy cruiser USS Baltimore. He ate with troops in the mess hall and gave an impromptu speech. Nasty weather prevented him from visiting Dutch Harbor as planned, and the tour was redirected to Kodiak. An avid fisherman, he managed to fit in a brief excursion to Buskin Lake, where he caught a small Dolly Varden trout.

From there, the Baltimore took him to Auke Bay near Juneau. In what was the highlight of his time in Alaska, Roosevelt spent three hours fishing in Tee Harbor with Alaska Gov. Ernest Gruening and the captain of the Baltimore. Per the FDR Presidential Library’s transcribed log for the day, “Five large salmon, two flounder, one halibut and several cod were reeled in by the party. FDR accounted for the halibut and one of the flounder.” Upon returning, Roosevelt transferred to the destroyer USS Cummings and set forth for the Lower 48.

Harding’s and Roosevelt’s trips to Alaska make up the entirety of sitting presidential trips here before statehood. Once residents could vote in presidential elections, the frequency of such visits immediately increased. In 1960, both candidates, John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon, campaigned in Alaska.

Next week: Kennedy, Nixon and the other presidential visits to Alaska since statehood.

Key sources:

“Anchorage Wins Heart President Harding’s Party.” Anchorage Daily Times, July 14, 1923, 1, 4.

Dunham, Mike. “Obama to be 10th Sitting President to Visit.” Alaska Dispatch News, July 18, 2015, A-10.

Franklin D. Roosevelt Day by Day. Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library, fdrlibrary.marist.edu/daybyday/.

Kiffer, Dave. “Ketchikan’s Only Presidential Visitor Back in the News.” Sitka News, August 16, 2015, sitnews.us/Kiffer/PresidentialVisitor/081615_harding.html.

Gordon’s advertisement. Anchorage Daily Times, July 11, 1923, 3.

“President Harding Member Pioneers.” Anchorage Daily Times, July 16, 1923, 6.

“President Lingers an Hour on His Second Visit to Anchorage.” Anchorage Daily Times, July 18, 1923, 1, 3.

Seward, William H. Alaska Speech of William H. Seward at Sitka, August 12, 1869. Washington, D.C.: James J. Chapman, 1879.

Simpson, David. “President Harding’s Visit to Skagway.” Juneau Empire, August 23, 2017, juneauempire.com/life/president-hardings-visit-to-skagway/.

“Welcome to President Harding.” Anchorage Daily Times, July 13, 1923, 4.