The Presidents’ Tour, explained
The Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum, Grand Rapids, MI. July 14, 2023.
When I was eight years old, my father bet me fifty dollars that I couldn’t memorize all (then) forty-three presidents in order. He held up a fifty-dollar bill to show he meant business.
“That’s Ulysses S. Grant. He has a beard,” I pointed out, indicating that I did, too.
I can still name the presidents. But by my late twenties, I realized I knew almost nothing about them, except their names and order. Sure, I can pick them out of a lineup, but the accomplishments of some of the most important people in history were never a priority in my mind. And then one day, I woke up and they were. I’m still not quite sure what caused the switch to flip.
—
On June 30th, 2024, I wrote down what I wanted to know about the presidents. Main events and achievements. Stages of life. Favorite foods. I’ve always been a big fan of storytelling, and this was forming in my mind as a way to tell theirs - and one of my own, as well.
Then another thought popped into my head. They’ve all got to have some place memorializing them, right? What would it look like to visit at least one place for every president?
Over the next few months, I created The Spreadsheet. An exhaustive list of road trips that would cover 67 locations around the U.S. - at least one for each of the first 43 presidents. (I stopped at Obama. At the time of this writing, his library hasn’t opened yet.) When I was done with The Spreadsheet, I leaned back and looked at the list.
Weird? Yes. Obsessive? Massively. But dammit, what if I could do this? What if I could do it all in a year?
(Alright, maybe two years. I don’t have time or money just lying around.)
—
As I prepared to start my journey in January 2025, my students were starting to write their senior research papers. The intent of these papers is to show that they’re capable of critical thinking and individual research, but they can write about whatever they want. Norse pagan rituals? Sure. Ways that social media tracks your data and what they do with it? Absolutely. The exploitation of the military-industrial complex by superhero movies? Why not?
In a way, this is my interest-based research project.
—
THE GOAL: Visit at least one historical site for every U.S. president by December 31st, 2026.
THE SITES: A presidential library, if possible. These get spotty before Herbert Hoover (#31), so my rule is: If they don’t have a library or museum of some sort, a house and/or somewhere their papers are kept. If not, somewhere with a gift shop. At least one of these guys only has a mausoleum, so I’m going there as well.
THE REPORT: A couple paragraphs about my journey, and a couple paragraphs about the president. Things like:
Major stages of life
What his presidency is known for
Where were they at my age? (As of the start of my journey - 1/18/2025 - that’s age 28.)
What was their favorite food?
Alright, let’s hit the road.