While native son Jimmy Carter has nearly universal awareness for his connections to Georgia, you may be surprised to learn that four other 20th-century presidents also have deep ties to our state.
None of these four men were born in Georgia. That distinction belongs solely to Mr. Carter. However, there are familial, medical, career, and recreational ties that mark Georgia as a significant player in presidential history.
Theodore Roosevelt
New Yorker Theodore Roosvelt’s mother, Mittie, grew up in Savannah, Georgia in the mid-1830’s. In 1839 she moved with her family to an area that would become Roswell, Georgia. Daughter of a wealthy planter, her maiden name was Bulloch, and she grew up in a mansion in Roswell called Bulloch Hall.
Mittie married Theodore Roosvelt Sr. in 1853 and moved to New York City where Theodore Jr. was born in 1858. As president, Theodore Roosevelt visited Bulloch Hall in 1905 and gave a brief speech honoring his combined northern and southern upbringing. Franklin Roosevelt, Theodore’s fifth cousin, also visited Bulloch Hall several times. Bulloch Hall remains open to the public in Roswell on Bulloch Avenue.
As a matter of local interest, Dunwoody, Georgia is named after Mittie Roosevelt’s brother, James Dunwoody Bulloch.
Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson was born in Staunton, Virginia in 1856. His father was a Presbyterian minister and relocated to Augusta, Georgia before Wilson was two years old. Growing up during the Civil War, Wilson was one of two presidents who are considered true ‘citizens of the confederacy’, the other being John Tyler.
In 1882, Woodrow Wilson set up a law practice in Atlanta, but closed it in less than one year due to his boredom with the day-to-day practice of the law. Three years later, he married Ellen Axon, daughter of a Presbyterian minister from Savannah. He then pursued studies at Johns Hopkins University, achieving a PhD in history and political science, the sole president to have earned a doctoral degree.
Franklin D. Roosevelt
60 miles southwest of Atlanta is Warm Springs, Georgia, famous for its constant 88-degree waters. Franklin Roosevelt first visited Warm Springs in 1924, three years after his diagnosis with polio. He found the warm water eased his symptoms and he enjoyed the area so much he founded a rehabilitation facility for polio victims.
FDR made 16 trips to Warm Springs while President from 1933 to 1945, staying 2-3 weeks each time. He died in his home there in 1945, just prior to victory in Europe during World War II.
Many subsequent politicians made campaign stops in Warm Springs, including John F. Kennedy and Jimmy Carter (who launched his campaign for the presidency there in 1976 following his nominating victory). Bill Clinton visited in 1995 while in office as well. All three wanted to directly connect to FDR’s popular legacy.
Dwight Eisenhower
Dwight D. “Ike” Eisenhower was an avid golfer and joined the famed Augusta National Golf Club in 1948. His immense popularity for having led the allied forces to victory over Hitler meant that he was rumored to be a candidate for president from both major parties. In 1952 he decided to run as a Republican, winning the office in a landslide.
As president Ike couldn’t just ‘stay’ at Augusta while golfing. He needed a safe and proper home away from the White House. The membership of the club funded the construction of a ‘cabin’ on the 10th tee of the course for Eisenhower. ‘Cabin’ may be too modest a description for the three story, seven bed room home. He visited Augusta 29 times during his eight years as president.
The Eisenhower cabin was also used by President Ronald Reagan in 1983 while planning the invasion of Grenada.
Jimmy Carter
No story of presidential impact on Georgia would be complete without mentioning native son Jimmy Carter. His life in Plains, also birthplace of his wife Rosalynn, his governorship of Georgia and his one term as president mark him as a man of high achievement. He later established the Carter Center in Atlanta, also the site of his library and museum, serving as his home base for his fight for peace and humanitarian causes around the world.
Sea Island
There is one more little-known connection of the presidency to Georgia. Beginning in 1928 with Calvin Coolidge, seven presidents have planted live oak trees at Sea Island Resort. These include Eisenhower in 1946, Ford in 1979, Carter in 1981, H. W. Bush in 1991, W. Bush in 2004, and Bill Clinton in 2012. Each tree is marked with a plaque commemorating their presidency and date of planting.
Most of the sites mentioned here are open to the public. If your travels take you nearby one, I recommend you stop for a visit.
Interested in learning more about the presidents? Visit the Carolyn & James Millar Presidential Gallery on the upper level of the Booth Western Art Museum. The gallery features original letters and photographs of every U.S. president. Learn more at www.boothmuseum.org.
