U.S. Presidential Visits to Georgetown University

 

 

• 1797, probably on August 7: Visits and speaks from the steps of the Old North porch 

Notes: 

• Washington’s grandnephews, Augustine and Bushrod enroll at Georgetown College on April 8, 1793. Augustine stays until 1794 and Bushrod until 1795.

• Washington arrives on horseback and ties his horse up to a picket fence as no one is waiting to greet him

 

 

• 1825, July 25: Attends commencement where he hands out diplomas

• 1827, July 30: Attends commencement where he hands out diplomas

 

 

• 1841, July 26, 1841: Attends commencement

• 1842, July 26, 1842: Attends commencement

Note: Tyler’s son, Tazewell Taylor, is a student at Georgetown College from October 23, 1843, to July 26, 1843

 

 

• 1845, September 28: Visits his nephew and ward Marshall T. Polk who is a student at Georgetown College 

 

 

• 1849, July 24, 1849: Attends commencement where he hands out diplomas

 

 

• 1854, July 11: Attends commencement 

• 1856, June 5: Visits

• 1856, November 6: Visits

Note: Georgetown College Cadets march to the White House on December 4, 1856

 

 

• 1845, July 24: Attends commencement as a Cabinet Secretary

• 1857, July 7: Attends commencement

• 1859, July 6: Attends commencement

Notes: 

• While Secretary Of State, Buchanan enrolls his nephew Joseph B. Henry at Georgetown College on September 22, 1846

• Georgetown College Cadets march to the White House on October 19, 1857, and again in July 1859 when they are received by the President in the East Room

 

 

• 1861, May 8: Reviews Federal troops billeted on campus

 

 

• 1867, July 3: Speaks at commencement

• 1869, July 1: Attends commencement

Note: Johnson’s son Andrew F. Johnson enrolls at Georgetown College on November 5, 1866

 

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• 1869, July 1: Attends commencement where he hands out the diplomas 

 

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• 1879, June 26: Attends commencement, the first to be held in Healy Hall, where he hands out the diplomas

 

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• 1887, June 27: Attends commencement where he hands out diplomas

• 1889, February 22: Speaks on the third and final day of Georgetown’s Centennial celebration

 

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• 1897, June 23: Attends commencement where he hands out diplomas

 

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• 1906, June 14: Speaks at commencement 

Note: According to the stray notes of Francis Barnum, S.J., Roosevelt’s appearance at commencement is unexpected as the University President had not invited him

 

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• 1913, March 2: Visits addresses the students in Gaston Hall

• 1916, June 13: Speaks at commencement

 

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• 1918, spring: Senator Harding visits Georgetown to inspect the Student Army Training Corps and speaks from the middle steps of Healy Hall

 

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• 1924, June 9: Speaks at commencement

Notes: 

• President Coolidge appoints GU President Charles Lyons, S.J. to the U.S. Bunker Hill Sesquicentennial Commission on March 10, 1925

• On January 20, 1927, Father Lyons dines at the White House

 

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• 1926, June 8: Speaks at commencement as Secretary of Commerce

 

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• 1947, December 1: Dedicates the Children’s Wing of the Georgetown University Hospital

Note: the degree of LL.D. is conferred on President Truman at the June 17, 1945, commencement but he does not attend and is represented by the Honorable Dennis Chavez, Senator from New Mexico and a graduate of the Georgetown University Law School

 

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• 1953, January 20: Holds one of his two inaugural balls in McDonough Gym

• 1953, April 29: Guest of honor at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce banquet in McDonough Gym

• 1958, October 13: Speaks at the dedication of the Walsh Building and receives an honorary degree

 

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• 1964, December 3: Speaks at the closing ceremonies of the 175th anniversary celebration and receives an honorary degree  in McDonough Gym 

• 1966, September 13: Signs an extension of the Peace Corps act in the Hall of Nations

Notes:

• Attends Georgetown's Law School in the fall of 1934

• Receives a John Carroll Award at the John Carroll Awards Weekend held in New York City on October 12, 1963

• Johnson’s daughter, Luci Baines Johnson, enrolls in the Nursing School in 1965 but leaves prior to graduation because she marries

 

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• 1952, April 20: Senator Nixon (R) California appears on the Georgetown University Forum radio program. He and fellow panelists the Hon. William C. Bullitt, first U.S. Ambassador to Soviet Russia, and Stefan Possony, Lecturer in Geopolitics at Georgetown University, discuss “How Can We Stop Russia?”

• 1953, January 20: Vice President Nixon attends the inaugural ball for President Eisenhower n McDonough Gym

Notes:

• Is invited to deliver the main address at GU’s 1973 commencement and receive an honorary degree. Declines in April 1973, shortly before the resignations of presidential aides H.R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman and the firing of John Dean
• Participates in a panel discussion, "How Can We stop Russia," for the Georgetown University Forum, a public affairs radio show. A recording on the discussion can be accessed via DigitalGeorgetown

 

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• 1983, November 2: Cuts the ribbon at the rededication of the Old North Building and speaks at an academic convocation in Gaston Hall, and receives an honorary degree in Gaston Hall

 

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• 1989, March 31: Cuts the ribbon at the dedication of the Salaam Intercultural Resource Center on the 7th floor of the Intercultural Center and answers questions from a panel of foreign policy experts in Gaston Hall

• 1989, November 6: Speaks with former First Lady Rosalynn Carter about their work at the Carter Center at Emory University in Gaston Hall

 

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• 1988, October 1: Speaks and receives an honorary degree at the inaugural convocation for Georgetown’s Bicentennial celebration on Healy Lawn

 

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• 1979, January 25: Former envoy to China George Bush speaks in Gaston Hall. Stopping short of declaring his candidacy for the 1980 Republican presidential nomination, he states when asked by a student that he is “keenly interested in seeking the nomination.”

 

 

As an alumni (F’1968), Clinton has made multiple visits to campus, many of which are listed below:

• 1980, May 25: Governor Clinton speaks at commencement 

• 1987, February 23: Governor Clinton delivers a speech sponsored by the Georgetown University Lecture Fund in Copley Formal Lounge

• 1991, October 23: Speaks as a Presidential candidate  in Gaston Hall 

• 1991, November 20: Speaks as a Presidential candidate  in Gaston Hall 

• 1991, December 12: Speaks as a Presidential candidate 

• 1993, January 18: Addresses the diplomatic corps at a pre-inaugural event 

• 1993, December 1: Speaks on World AIDS Day at the Medical Center

• 1994, January 20: Speaks on the first anniversary of his inauguration  in Gaston Hall

• 1994, November 10: Delivers the inaugural Carroll Quigley Lecture on the School of Foreign Service’s 75th anniversary on the future of U.S, Relations with Asia and the Pacific

• 1995, July 6: Speaks on Responsible Citizenship & the American Community in Gaston Hall

• 1997, June 11: Speaks at a conference on juvenile crime

• 1997, August 8: Speaks to announce a $2 billion plan to combat diabetes at the Medical Center

• 1997, October 6: Speaks at a global warming conference

• 1998, February 9: Speaks on social security reform in Gaston Hall

• 1999, June 25: Speaks on Medicare reform, regulating gun sales, increasing the minimum wage and expanding the federal role in education policy and funding

• 1999, September 23: Speaks at the memorial service for Lane Kirkland in Gaston Hall

• 1999, November 8: Delivers the Quandt Lecture on “The Tenth Anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall and the Velvet Revolution” 

• 2000, September 1: Speaks about missile defense in Gaston Hall

• 2000, September 26: Speaks at the Law Center

• 2001, November 7: Speaks on globalism and the war on terrorism in Gaston Hall

• 2003, February 11: Hosts “A Conversation: Issues that Impact Young Adults”

• 2006, October 11: Speaks on “Securing the Common Good: A Vision for America and the World”

• 2011, October 28: Speaks at a Clinton Foundation Symposium on the Lesson of Clintonomics in Gaston Hall

• 2013, April 30: Delivers the first lecture in the Clinton Lecture series focusing on the stories of people who have impacted his life in Gaston Hall 

• 2014, April 30: Delivers the second lecture in the Clinton Lecture series focusing on his approach to domestic and foreign policy in Gaston Hall

• 2015, April 21: Delivers the third lecture in the Clinton Lecture series in Gaston Hall

• 2017, November 6: Delivers the keynote address at the Clinton at 25 symposium in Gaston Hall

Note: Clinton hosts a 25th reunion event for his class at the White House on June 7, 1993

 

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• 2006, September 20: Senator Obama (D-IL) speaks on  energy independence in Gaston Hall

• 2009, April 14: Speaks on the  economy in Gaston Hall

• 2013, June 25: Speaks on climate change from the steps of Old North

• 2015, May 8: Speaks at the Catholic-Evangelical Leadership Summit on Overcoming Poverty

 

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• 2001, November 30: Speaks on the keys to entrepreneurial success in Copley Formal Lounge. The event was hosted by the Georgetown M.B.A. Entrepreneurs Association

Note: Two of Trump’s children attended Georgetown - Ivanka Trump who was enrolled from 2000-2002 and Erik who graduated from the McDonough School of Business in 2006

 

 

• 1977, February 22: Senator Biden (D-Del.) discusses Congress and foreign policy at an informal seminar sponsored by the Georgetown Lecture Fund in the Hall of Nations

• 1985, November 6: Senator Biden delivers the Ryan Memorial Lecture at the Georgetown University Law Center

• 1992, February 11: Senator Biden reflects about his personal life for the Escape ‘95 retreat program in Gaston Hall 

• 2015, December 16: Vice President Biden speaks at Interfaith Gathering for Solidarity, Understanding, and Peace in Gaston Hall

• 2016, March 24: Vice President speaks about the Supreme Court at the Georgetown University Law Center

• 2016, December 5: Vice President Biden speaks on the importance of financial sector regulation in Gaston Hall

• 2021, February 18: Receives ashes for Ash Wednesday from Brian McDermott, S.J. at Wolfington Hall

Note: Biden’s son, Robert Hunter Biden graduated with a B.A. from Georgetown University in 1992 and attended Georgetown University Law Center from 1992-1993