The desert landscape of Arizona has welcomed various presidential visits over the years. From rallies to funerals to candidates seeking voter support or advocating their policies, ABC15 has covered multiple memorable presidential moments worth taking a look back at this President’s Day.
In May of 1974, President Richard Nixon held a rally at the Phoenix Veterans Memorial Coliseum, which is located at the Arizona State Fairgrounds. He tried to put the Watergate scandal behind him just a few months before the 40th president resigned after ongoing fallout.
“I’m going to stay on this job, with your help,” said then-President Nixon.
On May 5, 1983, Ronald Reagan left a Cinco De Mayo celebration in San Antonio, Texas, to later land at Phoenix Sky Harbor. He stopped at a flower shop before staying at the Biltmore, according to the White House diary.
The next day, the president, who once survived an assassin’s bullet and supported restricting access to assault weapons, spoke to the NRA convention in the Valley. He also spoke to a group of senior volunteers in Sun City who aim to reduce crime.
In September of 1991, President George H. W. Bush was at the Grand Canyon sharing new regulations requiring a new nearby coal plant to install pollution-reducing equipment.
His successor, President Bill Clinton, came to Arizona seven times during his presidency.
At the turn of the century, Clinton was at the south rim to announce the start of several new national monuments.
In the fall of 2004, George W. Bush debated democratic challenger John Kerry at Arizona State University in Tempe.
”People love America, sometimes they don’t like the decision made by America,” said Bush before a town hall audience trying to convince Americans for a second term.
Years later, ASU welcomed the first black president early in his first term at a commencement ceremony in May of 2009.
“I also want to apologize to the entire state of Arizona for stealing away your wonderful formal governor, Janet Napolitano,” said President Barack Obama before thousands.
President Obama made seven trips to Arizona during his eight years.
President Donald Trump also made seven trips to Arizona during his time in the White House, and numerous other trips to our state as a candidate and post-presidency. It’s reported no other modern president has visited Arizona as much as Trump has.
President Trump speaks at a rally in Phoenix, Arizona on August 22, 2017.
A more recent visit for President Joe Biden came in August of 2023, declaring more parts of the Grand Canyon as a national monument. The declaration turned a decades-long vision for Native American tribes into a reality.
Presidents’ Day became a federal holiday as more states would celebrate the birthday of presidents Abraham Lincoln and George Washington, who were both born in February.
