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The Floating White House: A Brief History of the Presidential Yacht

By: Evan Andrews

Updated: October 31, 2023 | Original: August 18, 2017

Before there was Air Force One, there was the presidential yacht. Dating back to the 19th century, America’s chief executives utilized navy ships and other vessels for recreation and entertaining foreign dignitaries. Nearly a dozen different ships acted as the “Floating White House” between 1880 and 1977, when the last vessel was sold at auction. During that time, they were the scene of international diplomatic summits, congressional schmoozing and the occasional Potomac River pleasure cruise.

The executive yacht “served an important purpose in enabling Presidents to escape the claustrophobic tension of the White House,” former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger has written. It “provided a quiet sanctuary; it was handier than Camp David, easier for casual, informal discussions.”

Abraham Lincoln made use of a steamboat called the River Queen during the Civil War , but the first official presidential yachts date to the Gilded Age. Starting in 1880, America’s commanders in chief sailed aboard a series of Navy vessels including  USS Despatch , USS Dolphin and USS Sylph . In 1886, Despatc h famously ferried Grover Cleveland across New York Harbor for the dedication of the Statue of Liberty .

Presidential boating entered a new era in the early 1900s, when  USS Mayflower took over as the chief executive’s official yacht. Unlike earlier vessels, which were relatively austere in their design, Mayflower was a luxury craft previously owned by real estate millionaire Ogden Goelet. Measuring some 275 feet from stem to stern, it boasted a crew of over 150 and had a sumptuous interior that included a 30-person dining table and bathtubs made from Italian marble.

USS Mayflower is most famously associated with Theodore Roosevelt , who often used it and  USS Sylph for family vacation cruises along Long Island. A more official use came in August 1905, when Roosevelt hosted Japanese and Russian envoys aboard  Mayflower as part of his attempts to mediate peace talks in the Russo-Japanese War . He would later win the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in ending the conflict.

Mayflower served as a presidential plaything for over two decades. Woodrow Wilson is said to have wooed his second wife Edith Bolling Galt during romantic jaunts aboard the ship, and Calvin Coolidge reportedly loved the yacht so much he stationed a Navy chaplain aboard so that he could take Sunday morning cruises without being accused of skipping church. Nevertheless, the ship’s opulence proved to be a sticking point with critics of presidential excess. In 1929, with economic concerns on the rise, Herbert Hoover  finally had  Mayflower decommissioned.

Mayflower was the largest and stateliest of the presidential yachts, but it wasn’t the last. Hoover—a devoted fisherman—soon began making day trips on a wooden-hulled vessel called USS Sequoia , and he eventually grew so attached to it that he had it featured on his 1932 Christmas card. Franklin D. Roosevelt began his tenure with Sequoia , but later switched to USS Potomac, a 165-foot former Coast Guard cutter that included a special elevator to help the wheelchair-bound president move between decks.

FDR occasionally utilized the ship for official business—it carried him to a 1941 meeting with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill —but it was more frequently used for presidential leisure. In his book Sailor in the White House: The Seafaring Life of FDR , author Robert Cross writes that Potomac provided Roosevelt with “an instant means of extricating himself from the confines of Washington. Roosevelt could escape to the open water, where he could do some politicking and thinking, or relax and entertain on deck with friends and advisors, or simply throw a fishing line overboard and patiently wait for a bite.”

Recreation was also the main role of the presidential yachts during the administration of Harry Truman , who hosted floating poker games aboard Sequoia and the 243-foot USS Williamsburg. Dwight D. Eisenhower was more of a landlubber than his predecessors, but sea excursions became popular again in the 1960s, when Sequoia resumed its former role as the main presidential yacht. John F. Kennedy —who also utilized a yacht called Honey Fitz and a sailboat called Manitou —celebrated his final birthday with a party aboard Sequoia. Lyndon B. Johnson installed a liquor bar and enjoyed having movies projected on the main deck.

As the longest serving of the executive yachts, Sequoia played host to several chapters in presidential history. The 104-foot vessel was a more humble affair than many of the other yachts, but the seclusion of its elegant, mahogany-paneled saloon made it an ideal location for sensitive political discussions. Harry Truman talked nuclear arms policy aboard the ship with the prime ministers of Britain and Canada. In the mid-1960s, Lyndon Johnson used yacht trips to hash out Vietnam strategy and lobby legislators to support his Great Society domestic reforms. “The Sequoia was a rostrum from which he was trying to persuade congressmen and senators,” former Johnson aide Jack Valenti said.

Richard Nixon was undoubtedly the most the enthusiastic user of  Sequoia. The 37th president reportedly made as many as 100 trips aboard the yacht, including one in which he met with Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev to negotiate the S ALT I nuclear arms agreement . Near the end of his second term, Nixon also used  Sequoia as a hideout from the controversies of the Watergate scandal . During one final cruise in August 1974, the embattled president reportedly informed his family of his decision to resign before retiring to the ship’s saloon, quaffing a glass of scotch and playing God Bless America on the piano.

The age of the presidential yacht came to a close in 1977. That year, newly inaugurated Jimmy Carter ordered that  Sequoia be offloaded in a public sale. Carter later noted that he was disturbed by the yacht’s $250,000 annual upkeep, but he was also following through on a campaign promise to dispense with the extravagance of the presidency. “Despite its distinguished career, I feel that the Presidential yacht Sequoia is no longer needed,” he wrote in a memo to his Secretary of Defense.

Today, Sequoia and  Potomac are the only two former presidential yachts still in existence. Potomac went through several different owners after its presidential service—including Elvis Presley —and is now moored in Oakland, California. Sequoia, though currently inactive and in a state of disrepair, was once used as a floating museum and private charter boat, and still retains much of its presidential memorabilia. Both vessels are now registered as National Historic Landmarks.

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A dilapidated, raccoon-infested wooden yacht that was once the 'floating White House' for 8 US presidents is being restored – here's a look inside the USS Sequoia

• A rundown, raccoon-infested yacht that once served as a luxurious "floating White House" for eight US presidents between 1933 and 1977 was just barged from Virginia to Maine for a complete restoration.
• The Presidential yacht was sold by Jimmy Carter in the 1970s and became a tourist charter on the Potomac River before being sent to decay in a Virginia shipyard during a legal battle over its ownership.
• Now, a fund that wants to preserve US history and boatbuilders in Belfast, Maine, are teaming up to restore the 1925 wooden yacht plank by plank. 
• During its heyday, the yacht hosted JFK's final birthday party and Nixon's last days before his resignation.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. 

Air Force One is occasionally referred to as the "flying Oval Office." Forty years ago, there was a floating Oval Office, too. 

Now, a group of investors and master boatbuilders are working together to restore it.

A 104-foot wooden yacht that was once considered the height of luxury was purchased by the US government in 1931 from an oil tycoon to be the official vessel for the highest office in the country. That "floating White House" then served eight presidents, from Herbert Hoover to Jimmy Carter, between the years of 1933 and 1977.

The USS Sequoia could accommodate up to eight people across five staterooms, but could also host more than 20 for dinners and parties. JFK even had his 46th birthday party on board. The vessel has a storied history, with presidents cruising on it for both leisure and business. 

Jimmy Carter sold the USS Sequoia at auction in 1977, and since then, it has changed hands many times. Over the last decade, it has fallen into decay and been the focal point of a lengthy legal battle .

The yacht, which has been home to a family of raccoons in Virginia in recent years, was barged to Belfast, Maine, earlier in October to begin the restoration process.

Keep reading for a look at the vessel and its history.

The Sequoia is a 104-foot wooden motor yacht that was built in 1925 and served as an official mode of transportation for eight US presidents between 1933 and 1977.

Source: The Equator Collection , Business Insider

The yacht was purchased by the US government in 1931 from a Texas oil tycoon. It was then used by each president from Herbert Hoover to Jimmy Carter to host events related to both work and leisure.

Source : Town & Country

Franklin D. Roosevelt installed an elevator in the 1930s to make the yacht more easily accessible for his wheelchair. Lyndon B. Johnson later replaced the elevator with a bar.

In 1963, John F. Kennedy celebrated his 46th birthday – his last birthday – aboard the Sequoia with his family, friends, and a bottle of 1955 Dom Perignon.

Source: The Washington Post

Richard Nixon was on board when he decided to resign in 1974. The captain said he played "God Bless America" on the presidential piano following the decision.

Source: CBS News

According to CBS News, Nixon spent more time on the yacht than any other president. At one point, he even hosted Leonid Brezhnev, the fifth leader of the Soviet Union, there.

Jimmy Carter sold the vessel at auction in 1977 for $286,000, looking to maintain a less outwardly luxurious presidency.

In a 2011 interview with the JFK Presidential Library , Carter spoke about selling the presidential yacht: "People thought I was not being reverent enough to the office I was holding, that I was too much of a peanut farmer, not enough of an aristocrat, or something like that. So I think that shows that the American people want something of, an element of, image of monarchy in the White House."

After President Carter sold the boat, it was used for tours of the Potomac River and even $10,000 four-hour charters. It served that purpose through multiple owners.

It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1987 and switched hands multiple times before becoming embroiled in a legal battle regarding its ownership in 2013.

The legal issues stemmed from two LLC investment groups debating ownership.

During legal proceedings, the yacht was left to decay in Virginia.

A Delaware judge ultimately ruled that one of the investment groups could acquire the Sequoia at "an adjusted price" of $0 in 2016.

In the ruling, the judge also wrote: "The Sequoia, an elderly and vulnerable wooden yacht, is sitting on an inadequate cradle on an undersized marine railway in a moribund boatyard on the western shore of the Chesapeake, deteriorating and, lately, home to raccoons."

The Equator Collection, the company that purchased the raccoon-infested yacht for $0, is a fund that aims to preserve "maritime assets that are significant to the history of the United States."

Source :  The Equator Collection

It just barged the defunct Sequoia from Virginia to Belfast, Maine, where a lengthy restoration process is set to begin.

Source: French & Webb

After collaborating with Maine-based boatbuilders French & Webb to restore the Sequoia plank by plank, the Equator Collection intends to send the yacht back to the Potomac River as a kind of museum and educational tool.

On its barge-supported voyage from Virginia to Maine, the Sequoia passed through New York City, under the Brooklyn Bridge ...

... before arriving in Belfast, Maine, on October 21.

The restoration process is expected to take several years, according to the boatbuilders' press release.

• Main content

What Ever Happened to the Presidential Yacht?

The "floating White House" once provided a venue for American officials, prom parties, and leisurely afternoons offshore. Now it's rotting away in a boatyard and has become home to raccoons.

• The USS Sequoia was built in 1925 and served eight presidents before Jimmy Carter put it up for auction in 1977
• John F. Kennedy added a king-size bed to the yacht and celebrated his 46th birthday on the boat. Marilyn Monroe may have also joined him for a cruise or two.
• It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1987 and commanded rental fees of $10,000 a day at one point.
• It's now reportedly deteriorating in a Virginia boatyard. Following a prolonged legal battle, a judge last year awarded a Washington, D.C.-based company the right to acquire it for $0.

Presidents travel in style. Perks of the office include a custom Boeing 747 for long range journeys, a Sikorsky Sea King helicopter for shorter jaunts, and an apocalypse-proof armored Cadillac limousine, nicknamed "the Beast," for ground transit. As luxurious as this sounds, one form of transportation has been conspicuously absent from the chief executive's lineup for 40 years: the presidential yacht.

Numerous ships have been commissioned to carry the president since 1880. The longest serving and most famous among them is the USS Sequoia , which carried eight presidents as a "floating White House" from 1933 until 1977. Docked at Pier One in the Washington Navy Yard, the presidential yacht provided an easily accessible and secure location for conducting meetings, entertaining dignitaries, and avoiding media scrutiny.

Designed by renowned Norwegian naval architect Johan Trumpy in 1925, the 104-foot, mahogany-hulled motor yacht could sleep six and accommodate 40 revelers for cocktails on the spacious aft-deck or 22 guests for a formal dinner in the salon. Trumpy yachts represented the pinnacle of seafaring luxury in their day and were sought out by titans of industry like DuPont, Chrysler, Firestone, and Dodge for their speed, range, and comfort.

Purchased from a Texas oil tycoon by the U.S. Government in 1931, the Sequoia was briefly deployed by the Department of Commerce as a decoy ship on the Mississippi in an effort to capture rum-runners during Prohibition. It was officially commissioned by the Navy in 1933 and President Hoover promptly sailed the newly christened USS Sequoia to Florida for a sport-fishing expedition. President Hoover had decommissioned the 318-foot USS Mayflower as an austerity measure early in his term but was so fond of the Sequoia that he featured it on the White House Christmas card in 1932. A move that many construed as callous as he sought to steer the country out of the depths of the Great Depression.

Franklin Roosevelt also fished from Sequoia , often pulling perch from the Potomac River, but primarily used the boat for more serious matters. During World War II he and Winston Churchill discussed military strategies on board, meetings that required FDR to officially decommission the ship to accommodate the prime minister who would not drink on a Navy vessel. The change in official status allowed for the guilt-free consumption of "Churchill Martinis" while the two discussed D-Day cruising the Chesapeake.

Each president updated Sequoia to serve his personal needs and tastes. FDR installed an elevator to more easily access each deck by wheelchair, and Harry Truman added a spinet piano to the main salon. LBJ lowered the floor of the shower to accommodate his six-foot-four frame and replaced FDR's elevator with a wet bar.

John F. Kennedy, whose modifications included the addition of a king-size bed, used Sequoia sparingly. He did celebrate his 46th, and final, birthday on board, however, and it is rumored that Marilyn Monroe joined him for a cruise or two. It is hard to know for sure, though, as a crewmember destroyed all of the relevant ship's logs after Kennedy's death.

Richard Nixon was the most avid sailor of the Sequoia , logging 88 trips while in office. Some voyages were better than others. He negotiated the SALT I nuclear arms treaty with General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev on board and anguished over the decision to resign with a bottle of scotch at Truman's piano. He went on to announce to his family the plan to resign the presidency, rather than face impeachment, while cruising the Potomac.

The first family was often aboard but no presidential offspring made better use of Sequoia than Gerald Ford's daughter, Susan. She and friends from Holton Arms School enjoyed the sunset and a dinner of beef stroganoff in the main salon before celebrating their senior prom at the White House in 1975. She also celebrated her 19th birthday on board and joined her father for many of his cabinet meeting-cum-dinner parties, which the gregarious president visibly enjoyed.

In an interview about the Sequoia with Newsweek in 2012, Henry Kissinger explained the unique day-to-day role of the yacht: "It's important for the president to be by himself, to remove himself from the machinery of the White House. Of course, he can get on a plane and go to Florida or anywhere else, but that requires throwing the machinery into motion. But here, he just can say at five o'clock, 'I'm going to the boat, I'm taking four or five people. And you don't have to call it a meeting and you don't have to prepare the papers.'"

Its reputation as a diplomatic instrument and suitable refuge for wary presidents could not protect the Sequoia from the prevailing political tides of 1977. The tab for keeping the Sequoia shipshape and staffed was running $800,000 a year when Jimmy Carter took office, and he viewed the expense as "unjustified and unnecessary." In keeping with his campaign promise to trim the trappings of the "Imperial Presidency," President Carter ceremoniously auctioned it off for $236,000, bringing to an end the era of the presidential yacht.

For many years following President Carter’s sale, the Sequoia enjoyed celebrity status in the private sector. Famed not only for her long service to presidents, but also as one of the best-preserved Trumpys still floating, the yacht commanded rental fees of $10,000 per day. The Sequoia was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1987 and renters were able to experience a yacht preserved to presidential standards.

As with all wooden hulled vessels, the Sequoia required near constant maintenance, often having to be hauled out of the water for repairs. During one such refit Washington attorney Gary Silversmith, whose Sequoia Presidential Yacht Group LLC operated the vessel, became entangled in a lawsuit with a lender . The boat remained "on the hard" (on land) as the case wound its way through the courts, allowing it to fall further into disrepair.

Vice Chancellor Sam Glassock, the presiding judge in the case, noted the depressing state of the once-glamorous ship in his 2016 ruling : "The Sequoia, an elderly and vulnerable wooden yacht, is sitting on an inadequate cradle on an undersized marine railway in a moribund boatyard on the western shore of the Chesapeake, deteriorating and, lately, home to raccoons."

Glassrock ruled that FE Partners LLC , a joint venture between the D.C.-based Equator Capital Group and members of an Indian family with connections to the mining and shipping industry, could acquire the yacht for $0. FE Partners, which also owns Joseph P. Kennedy’s 31-foot yawl Tenovus, has said it plans to return the Sequoia to her home waters once the raccoons are evicted and the restoration is completed.

This will be no small feat but Michael Cantor, managing partner at Equator Capital Group, is determined to see Sequoia sail again. He speculates that journey will require a specialized crane to remove the yacht from the marine railway to a boatyard staffed with at least 20 historically trained shipwrights who will need to source three specific types of wood for the keel, frame, and hull. The price tag for the restoration could ultimately reach into the millions of dollars, but to Cantor the cost and effort are worthwhile to preserve what he views as the most significant piece of American history in private hands. He adds that should any president want to use the yacht once it is completed, it will certainly be available to them.

Throughout its storied career, the Sequoia bore witness to all the hallmarks of the modern presidency: historic feats of diplomacy, alleged extramarital affairs, and Russian intrigue. The office still claims many of those traits, but it no longer has the yacht. That ship has sailed.

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USS Sequoia – The Floating White House

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The 2020 Race for the White House came and went on Nov. 3. But did you know there was a yacht known as “The Floating White House?” USS Sequoia was a presidential yacht and served eight presidents between 1931 and 1977. The 95-year-old, 104-foot yacht was a significant part of U.S. history.

A 2019 article about the restoration of USS Sequoia stated the yacht, which was indeed known as the Floating White House, was where several key events occurred during its 40-plus-year run as a place for U.S. presidents.

The eight presidents who had USS Sequoia at his disposal were: Herbert Hoover; Franklin Delano Roosevelt; Harry Truman; Dwight Eisenhower; John F. Kennedy; Lyndon B. Johnson; Richard Nixon; Gerald Ford; and, Jimmy Carter.

What happened aboard USS Sequoia , you might be asking? We’ll never know everything that happened aboard, but MegaYacht News stated the yacht helped Kennedy celebrate his 46th – and last – birthday. USS Sequoia was also the site where Nixon made his decision to resign in 1974, according to MegaYacht News .

Carter reportedly sold the yacht, ending Sequoia ’s long run as a presidential annex. MegaYacht News said Carter made the decision to sell the yacht, because it was “unbecoming for the President to have such a luxury during tough economic times.”

An oral interview with Carter, published by the JFK Library, indicated the 39th President took some heat for selling the yacht.

“People thought I was not being reverent enough to the office I was holding, that I was too much of a peanut farmer, not enough of an aristocrat, or something like that,” Carter said in the published oral interview.

USS Sequoia became a National Historic Landmark in 1987 and is now owned by Equator Capital Group.

The yacht was built in 1925 in New Jersey.

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You've Heard Of Air Force One, But What About The Floating White House?

The tradition of creating a floating White House began in the years before air travel was a thing, and numerous presidential yachts were commissioned in the 19th and early 20th centuries to allow presidents to govern off-shore.

In the 1870s, presidents began using yachts to travel down the Potomac River and around the Chesapeake Bay while conducting official business (per Richard Elis, "Presidential Travel" ). In the years that followed, a series of increasingly splendid presidential ships played host to some surprisingly momentous events, from Richard Nixon's decision to resign to JFK's 46th birthday bash. Presidential boats were used for both work and leisure, providing a peaceful floating island far away from the world of Washington.

Sadly the tradition died in the 20th century, however. By the 1970s owning a luxury yacht seemed less practical and more frivolous, so Jimmy Carter decided to sell off the SS Sequoia in 1977. After serving as a tourist attraction for a while, it was allowed to rust and became a home for a family of raccoons. It was purchased for restoration for $0 by an investment group in 2019, according to Insider .

Pleasure boat diplomacy

Presidential adventures in yachting officially began with USS Dispatch in 1880, a boat that was handed over to Presidents Rutherford B. Hayes and President Grover Cleveland by the U.S. Navy (per Power and Motoryacht ). The Dispatch's biggest claim to fame is that Cleveland used the yacht to open the Statue of Liberty in 1886, and it seems to have served its purpose well because after that eight more presidential yachts were created and put to use over the course of the next century.

Many presidential boats were used to host groundbreaking diplomatic missions. The end of the Russo-Japanese War was negotiated on the USS Dolphin for example, and Soviet Premier Leonid Brezhnev met with Richard Nixon on the USS Sequoia. During the height of WWII, Winston Churchill had a critical secret meeting with Franklin D. Roosevelt on the USS Potomac. The yachts provided a way to introduce an element of comfort and style to official meetings, a worthy place to entertain foreign dignitaries.

Each incarnation of the seaborne presidential office was slightly different than the last, keeping in step with the times in which they were used. The 275-foot USS Mayflower favored by Teddy Roosevelt for example was built for luxury; the interior was decorated with white and gold panels, and the washrooms included some swanky marble bathtubs. On the other hand, fearful of German U-boats during the Second World War, the USS Potomac was built using steel and was successfully reinforced by the navy to protect the president while at sea.

Love affairs and boat parties

At times, certain presidents used the floating White House for less official purposes. Many presidential yachts ultimately served as a means for politicians to escape the pressures of governing altogether. Theodore Roosevelt for example kept two boats in tow, one for business and one — a smaller boat, named the USS Sylph — for leisure. John F. Kennedy also kept a whole fleet of ships to serve his various needs — the Honey Fitz, the Manitou, and the Sequoia. Kennedy seems to have been particularly fond of boating expeditions, and a rumor persists that Marilyn Monroe spent some time in Kennedy's bathtub on the Manitou, per Power and Yacht.

Probably the most salacious confirmed non-presidential business to take place on any yacht was Woodrow Wilson's seduction of his second wife on board the deck of the USS Mayflower. According to History , He impressed the new first lady there and won her hand via a series of romantic boat rides, just a year after his first wife's death.

Finally, more than a few enviable parties took place aboard an array of presidential ships. On one occasion, sick of his responsibilities Harry S. Truman ordered the crew of the USS Williamsburg to take him down to Bermuda — while there he spent an enjoyable few days playing poker and fishing. Then of course there was Kennedy's birthday party in 1963, on board the SS Sequoia. The apparently pretty wild event was awash with celebrities and champagne and saw the President doing the twist with Jackie Kennedy while Ted Kennedy roamed the deck with half his pants missing, per Power and Yacht.

The USS Potomac’s Origins

The uss potomac was built in 1934 as the coast guard cutter electra. the 165-foot vessel, displacing 416 gross tons with cruising speeds of 10 to 13 knots, was commissioned as a us navy vessel in 1936, renamed the uss potomac, and served as franklin delano roosevelt’s presidential yacht until his death in 1945..

As former Assistant Secretary of the Navy, FDR had a deep love for the sea and Navy tradition. He hated flying and preferred to travel by train or ship throughout his presidency.

During the sultry summer days in Washington, DC, he enjoyed cruising on the USS Potomac rather than staying in the White House. The USS Potomac gave the 32nd president much-needed respite from the cares of governing the United States throughout the Great Depression and World War II. He loved holding informal strategy sessions with close advisors and congressional leaders in the privacy and seclusion of the yacht. Recreation aboard the vessel included fishing, poker games, and family gatherings, and he spent endless hours onboard with his beloved stamp collection. In addition, at least one of FDR’s famed radio broadcasts originated from the USS Potomac on March 19, 1941.

A Special Vessel With Special Passengers

A paraplegic since he was stricken with polio at the age of 39 in 1921, FDR’s greatest fear was being caught in a fire and being unable to escape. He therefore preferred the USS Potomac, an all steel vessel, to the wooden Sequoia. A hand-operated elevator was installed inside a false stack on the ship and the President—who had developed an extremely strong upper body—was able to use ropes and pulleys to move the elevator up and down between the saloon and upper boat deck.

There are few records of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt coming aboard her husband’s Floating White House. In 1941, she celebrated her 57th birthday with family members aboard the USS Potomac. She also came aboard during the June 9, 1939, visit by the United Kingdom’s King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, when the two couples cruised to George Washington’s home in Mt. Vernon (click this link for a description of the Royal visit including a copy of the ship’s log) . Other royalty to board the Presidential Yacht included Crown Princess Martha of Norway, Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands, and Crown Prince Gustav of Sweden. 

World War II Changes Use of the USS Potomac

On Monday, August 4, 1941, four months before Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor, FDR boarded the USS Potomac ostensibly for a fishing trip and a visit to Martha’s Vineyard. The President, however, was secretly transferred to the heavy cruiser USS Augusta on the morning of August 5 to travel to Newfoundland where he would meet with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill—their first meeting as heads of state. During this top-secret rendezvous, the two world leaders forged the principles of the Atlantic Charter, forming the Allied partnership during World War II, and what Roosevelt called the "United Nations," to plan the post-war peace. With the United States’ direct involvement in the war at the end of 1941, the President’s recreational use of the USS Potomac came to an end.

History After FDR

From fdr to elvis “the king”.

After FDR’s death in April 1945, the USS Potomac began a long and ignominious decline from her former role in world affairs. After many adventures and many owners—including Elvis Presley at one point—she was seized in 1980 in San Francisco as a front for drug smugglers and impounded at Treasure Island, where she sank. The ship was raised and unceremoniously dumped on the East Bay Estuary, where she sat abandoned and rotting. A week away from being sold as scrap, the ship was rescued by the Port of Oakland, and the process of restoration was begun.

Restoration

The uss potomac resurfaces—back to her old glory.

Re-floated by the Navy two weeks after sinking at Treasure Island, she was sold to the Port of Oakland for just $15,000. The Port of Oakland spearheaded a cooperative effort with organized labor, maritime corporations, and dedicated volunteers to complete a $5 million restoration.

Opened to the public in 1995, the Association for the Preservation of the Presidential Yacht USS Potomac now operates this National Historic Landmark as an active memorial to Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the momentous times through which he led our nation.

USS Potomac Mission Statement

To preserve and protect the Presidential Yacht USS Potomac for use as a classroom and museum dedicated to imparting to present and future generations the continuing impact of the Franklin Delano Roosevelt era.

Today’s USS Potomac

Today, the USS Potomac, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Floating White House, is a National Historic Landmark and a vibrant part of the East Bay Waterfront. Over a 12-year period, $5 million was spent to restore the 165-foot-long vessel as a memorial to the president who authored the New Deal and led the United States during the Great Depression and the World War II years. The USS Potomac, the centerpiece of the museum exhibit, opened to the public in 1995 and is open for dockside tours on specified dates from 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM. Public 2 HR and 3 HR cruises on the San Francisco Bay take place from late April through early November on specified dates.

The Visitor Center business hours are 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM, Monday–Friday, where there is a wealth of information about the USS Potomac, including a fascinating video on her history, hard times, and resurrection. Storyboards that chronicle the yacht's history line the walls, and there is a library of books and videos available for viewing at the Visitor's Center.

The USS Potomac Association is involved in educational programs about the ship for area schools, history and educational cruises, special events cruises, and selected private charters.

The USS Potomac Association is an organization run by volunteers and a very small staff. Volunteers include the policy-making Board of Governors, history docents, office and administrative workers, the ship's maintenance crew, and program and membership volunteers. Although not a requirement, many of these individuals served in the armed forces, Merchant Marine, maritime unions, or have worked at ports throughout the country.

Experience, Support, and Preserve History

We are always looking for volunteers interested in preserving and perpetuating the history of the USS Potomac and the FDR era. Learn more about volunteer opportunities, ways to donate, or book a cruise or event aboard Franklin Roosevelt’s Floating White House.

Courtesy of the U.S. Navy archives (1939).

The Sequoia: The Floating White House

by Bob Cerullo

August 31, 2021

Emily Roebling Cadwalader was the granddaughter of John Roebling, the man who designed and built the Brooklyn Bridge, and she was wealthy beyond the wildest dreams of even the very wealthy. She was a socialite, philanthropist and passionate about her yachts .In 1923, she and her husband wealthy banker, Richard Cadwalader, commissioned John Trumpy to design a lavish 85-foot yacht they named Sequoia . Trumpy designed the Sequoia to cruise the Chesapeake and Delaware Bays in summer. In the winter, it was to sail down the Intercoastal Waterway to Florida to show off the couple’s enormous wealth.

 However, Emily Cadwalader soon concluded her new yacht was not big enough or grand enough to truly represent their colossal wealth and position. Richard Cadwalader was a member of the prestigious New York Yacht Club. Emily simply had to have a bigger yacht. In just a year from having taken delivery on the Sequoia, she commissioned Trumpy to build her a bigger and grander 104-foot yacht to be named the Sequoia II . Trumpy was chosen because of his growing reputation for building luxury yachts with shallow draft which made Trumpy yachts ideal for the Chesapeake Bay and the Intracoastal Waterway. The Sequoia II had a draft of four and half feet and a beam of 19 feet. The yacht was built at the Mathis Yacht Building Company in Camden, New Jersey. The Sequoia II was delivered in 1925 and cost $200,000 ($3 million in today’s dollars). Even the brand-new Sequoia II did not make Emily Cadwalader happy for long. Within a year she ordered a new 195-foot yacht. Still not pleased with the size of that yacht, she ordered a 265-foot yacht. In 1932, she bought an even larger yacht, the 446-foot yacht named the Savarona . At the time, it was hailed as the largest private yacht in the world.

In 1928, the Sequoia II was sold to a Galveston oil tycoon named William Dunning. Dunning kept the Sequoia II at the Corinthian Yacht Club in New York City. He cruised extensively from Maine to Cuba and Mexico City. With his business damaged by the stock market crash, Dunning sold the Sequoia II to the United States Department of Commerce in March 1931 for a price of $48,860. Prohibition was the law of the land at that time, and the Sequoia II was used as a decoy yacht or inspection vessel to catch unsuspecting rumrunners who cruised the Chesapeake offering illegal liquor to yachts and other boats.

Over the years, there were several Naval ships that were unofficially used as presidential yachts, such as the USS Dispatch , the USS Dolphin , and the USS Sylph . In 1921, the USS Mayflower became the

Courtesy of U.S. Navy archives.

President Hoover enjoyed using the Sequoia in the 1930s. It became the official presidential yacht at the request of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

Secretary of the Navy’s yacht. Built in 1896, she was 318 feet long. Originally, she was a yacht then converted to a warship. In 1905, the USS Mayflower was converted back to a yacht for the use of President Theodore Roosevelt. She was used by Presidents William Howard Taft, Woodrow Wilson, Warren G. Harding and Calvin Coolidge for recreation as well as to hold presidential meetings. In 1929, President Herbert Hoover had the USS Mayflower decommissioned to save money. In 1931, Hoover called upon the Department of Commerce to put the Sequoia II at his disposal. Hoover used the Sequoia II on April 25, 1931, for a trip between Washington, D.C and Cape Henry, Virginia. Hoover became very fond of the Sequoia II and even used a photo of it on his 1932 Christmas card. He took a lot of criticism at a time when many Americans were in bread lines.

After his inauguration on March 4,1933, President Franklin Roosevelt spread the word around various government departments that, if it was available, he wanted the Sequoia II as his official presidential yacht. On March 23, 1933, the yacht became the official presidential yacht. Roosevelt liked to fish for perch on the Potomac River. On one of his fishing trips, he came by limousine to Deltaville, Virginia and met the yacht Sequoia II at the wharf at the end of North End road. Roosevelt liked to fish the wrecks in the Chesapeake Bay. Because Franklin D. Roosevelt was wheelchair bound, he had an elevator installed. Oddly, Lyndon Johnson had the elevator removed, and a bar installed in its place.

Roosevelt’s first invited guest was the Prime Minister of Great Britain. The president liked to cruise with cabinet members, foreign dignitaries and close friends. Joseph Kennedy, Sr., was one of those friends. The Sequoia II served President Roosevelt for nine years. In 1942, the Sequoia II was transferred to the US Coast Guard, and her name was changed to the Sequoia .

President Truman invited British Prime Minister Clement Atlee, Canadian Prime Minister Mackenzie King and US Secretary of State James Byrnes for a cruise on Armistice Day, November 11,1945. President Eisenhower utilized the Sequoia rarely and, essentially, only for official business. Lord Louis Mountbatten, Chief of British Defense, was one of his few guests in 1959.

Photo courtesy of Robert Knudsen

John F. Kennedy aboard his beloved Manitou.

President John F. Kennedy loved boats. He often sailed a US Government owned sailboat named the Manitou . During his presidency, much to the chagrin of the Secret Service, he sailed the Manitou himself and enjoyed cruising on the Sequoia and another presidential yacht, the Honey Fitz . Kennedy’s speech writer and aide, Theodore Sorensen, said, “On board either the family or the presidential cruiser the president read history or biography or fiction, chatted with family and friends, waved at passing boats, watched local sailing races and enjoyed the distance between himself and the Secret Service.” Kennedy celebrated his 46th birthday on the Sequoia .

According to Jack Valenti, a former aide to Lyndon Johnson, “Lyndon Johnson used yacht trips on the Sequoia to hash out Vietnam strategy and lobby legislators to support his Great Society domestic reforms.” Johnson had the top deck modified so she could accommodate more people. “The  Sequoia  was a rostrum from which he was trying to persuade congressmen and senators.” Richard Nixon used the Sequoia more than just about any of his predecessors. The 37th president reportedly made as many as 100 trips aboard the yacht, including one in which he met with Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev to negotiate the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT). When the pressure from Watergate got too heavy, Nixon also used the Sequoia  as a hideout from the controversies of the scandal. It was on one of the final cruises in August 1974 that embattled President Richard Nixon reportedly informed his family of his decision to resign as President of the United States. After telling them, he retired to the ship’s saloon, quaffed a glass of scotch, and played  God Bless America  on the piano.

President Ford felt that his cabinet members and his children should be able to enjoy the Sequoia. Ford entertained Japanese Emperor Hirohito, USSR Deputy Prime Minister Ignaty Novikov and other international statesmen on the Sequoia .

The Sequoia cost $250,000 a year to operate. President Carter, in a cost cutting effort, and to fulfill a campaign promise, ordered her sold in 1977. Carter told his Secretary of Defense, “Despite its distinguished career, I feel that the Presidential yacht Sequoia is no longer needed.”

The Sequoia was eventually sold and used as a charter party yacht in Washington, D.C., commanding $10,000 for a one-day charter. During that period, she had a varied history, from being used as a charter boat for political and corporate events to touring as an historical exhibit. The Sequoia was berthed at the dock at Hain’s Point in the Washington Channel for seven years. She was available to President Reagan but was unused by him. In 1984, the Sequoia embarked on a six-thousand-mile odyssey cruise to raise money for her owners at that time, the Presidential Yacht Trust. During that time her maintenance was at times adequate and at other times dubious. Eventually, she wound up at Deagle’s Boat Yard in Deltaville, Virginia and was in much need of repair. Legal problems ensued, and for several years she remained on dry land in Deltaville while the elements advanced her deterioration and raccoons nested onboard.

Courtesy of Wolfe House and Building Movers.

USS Sequoia onboard the barge.

Just when any hope of saving the Sequoia seemed totally lost, she was ordered by the court to be turned over to an investment group with the stipulation that she would fully be restored. The price ordered by the court was $0.00. Restoration was awarded to the French & Webb Inc. in Belfast, Maine. Since the Sequoia had deteriorated to the point where she was no longer seaworthy, Wolfe House and Building Movers was given the Herculean job of moving the Sequoia from dry land onto a massive barge for the trip to Maine.

When the Sequoia arrived at Belfast, Maine in October of 2019, she was positioned in the French and Webb yard. Eventually, a building will be constructed to cover the Sequoia . There will also be a viewing area where visitors can watch the work in progress. Todd French of French and Webb was quoted in the January 2020 issue of Soundings Magazine . He said, “The public is connected to it. We’ve had so many people show up and look reverentially at this project, it’s like people are just in awe, taking pictures. It’s like they’re coming to church.” The restoration will take about three years at which time the Sequoia will once again cruise the waters of the Potomac River.

It is strangely ironic that the Sequoia , which was not grand enough nor large enough to please wealthy socialite Emily Roebling Cadwalader, became the floating White House and was used by five presidents of the United States and visited by future presidents and by countless international celebrities. It is perhaps the most important historical yacht still in existence. The Sequoia was designated as a National Historic Landmark on December 23, 1987.

In his book, Sequoia, Presidential Yacht, Captain Giles M. Kelly, USNR (ret) recounts his years in command of the Sequoia. There is a great video of the Sequoia being loaded onto a barge at the Chesapeake Bay Marine Railway. See USS Sequoia - Presidential Yacht Relocated on YouTube

2017 The House & Home Magazine

All the President's Yachts: The Rise, Fall, and Resurrection of FDR's Floating White House

By Ben Marks — February 15th, 2017

It has come to our attention that our president lacks a yacht. That’s right: Donald J. Trump, who is so rich that our eyeballs would burn right out of their sockets if we so much as glimpsed his tax returns, is without a suitably luxurious means of floating on our nation’s great inland waterways or along its rocky shores. Our commander-in-chief reportedly owns a Boeing 757, a Cessna Citation X, a trio of helicopters, a pair of Rolls Royces, a Lamborghini Diablo, and a custom-made, gold-trimmed motorcycle from Orange County Choppers. But when it comes to watercraft, President Trump is up that proverbial creek without so much as a paddle.

“Roosevelt was a martini guy. A good cocktail was very important to him.”

Once upon a time, we the people supplied our presidents with a floating getaway. Leaders as politically dissimilar as Herbert Hoover and Jimmy Carter cruised aboard the 104-foot USS Sequoia , as did presidents Kennedy through Ford, while Truman and Eisenhower enjoyed the Williamsburg .

But the most famous and storied presidential yacht is the USS Potomac , which was a favorite escape for President Franklin D. Roosevelt from 1936 until his death in 1945. Since 1981, the Potomac has been berthed in Oakland, California. In 1995, it opened to the public for tours and excursions on San Francisco Bay.

Top: In 1939, President Roosevelt (at center, holding the arm of a naval officer for support) entertained King George VI of England (to FDR’s right) aboard the Potomac . Also present were Queen Elizabeth and Eleanor Roosevelt (both to the King’s right). (Image by Harris & Ewing, via Wikimedia Commons ) Above: The Potomac at its berth in Oakland, California. (Image by Christopher J. Wood via Wikimedia Commons )

Few know as much about the Potomac ’s history as Les Dropkin, a retired actuary who has been an active volunteer with the nonprofit Potomac Association for more than 20 years. “The ship and I are contemporaries,” Dropkin says. “Growing up, FDR was the only president I knew.”

For people of Dropkin’s generation, the Potomac is a tangible link to Roosevelt, widely considered the greatest U.S. president of the modern era. For many more, the Potomac is a symbol of a time when America was united at home and abroad, weathering the Great Depression and winning World War II , albeit at the expense of Japanese Americans who were incarcerated during the conflict.

Recently, Dropkin explained the history of the Potomac during a guided tour of the vessel, which goes into dry dock later this year for $350,000-worth of Coast Guard-mandated inspections and repairs . “The Potomac started its life as the Electra ,” Dropkin begins, “one of 18 cutters built for the Coast Guard between 1931 and 1934.” When the first of these cutters were launched, Dropkin says, Prohibition was still the law of the land, so the 165-foot-long vessels were used as patrol boats designed to intercept bootleggers, primarily close to shore and on rivers such as the Hudson and Potomac. “By 1934, when the Electra was built,” he continues, “Prohibition had ended, but there was still a lot of smuggling by those who wanted to avoid the taxes on liquor.”

President Franklin Roosevelt aboard the USS Potomac , 1936. (Image via Yachts International )

Ships like the Electra earned their keep by foiling such tax cheats, but the Electra did this virtuous work for only a few months before it was selected, in 1935, to be President Roosevelt’s official yacht. “During the first years of his administration,” Dropkin says, “Roosevelt used a Department of Commerce vessel called the Sequoia as his presidential yacht.” President Hoover had sailed on the Sequoia , too, but only after Roosevelt’s election, during the final months of 1932. Upon taking office, Roosevelt, who enjoyed being on the water more than his predecessor, took to the Sequoia whenever his busy schedule would allow.

Hoover and Roosevelt were not the first presidents to enjoy such treatment. According to Dropkin, the idea of a presidential yacht took shape in the latter part of the 19th century. “As commander-in-chief,” Dropkin says, “a president can board any naval vessel he chooses. But in the 19th century, the idea evolved of perhaps having a naval vessel available for use by high government officials. Gradually, that narrowed to a vessel specifically for the president.”

The Sequoia , though, was not a perfect yacht for a head of state. “The Sequoia was only 104 feet long,” Dropkin explains. That meant the president’s Secret Service detail had to follow behind in a separate ship. At 165 feet in length, the Electra , when converted, would have room for two cabins for the Secret Service.

Roosevelt’s chief of staff, Missy LeHand, conferring with the president aboard the Potomac in 1939. (Image via the National Register of Historic Places )

Fire was another concern. “The Sequoia was a wood-hulled vessel—those in charge of Roosevelt’s safety wanted a ship made out of steel. So the president tasked his naval aide with the mission of finding a replacement vessel. Working with the Navy Department, the aide and his staff found four ships in the government’s fleet that might serve Roosevelt’s purposes. A list was presented to FDR and he selected the Electra , renaming it the Potomac .”

Using an existing Coast Guard cutter made economic sense—the Depression was no time for extravagance, even for a new president. But there was another reason why Roosevelt got the Potomac with its steel hull and room for onboard Secret Service officers. A polio victim since 1921, the 53-year-old president required a wheelchair to get around, so if a fire broke out on the short-staffed Sequoia, Roosevelt’s life would almost certainly be in danger.

Once the ship was selected, work began almost immediately to make the Potomac fit for a president. Some of these changes would have served any commander-in-chief, disabled or not. “From about the midships passageway forward,” Dropkin tells me as we stand on the dock in Oakland’s Jack London Square, “she looks very much as she did when she was a Coast Guard cutter. But from the midships passageway on back, that’s where the real changes occurred, the things that made her into the presidential yacht.”

The Potomac ‘s rear smokestack was converted into an elevator so the wheelchair-bound president could move freely between the ship’s two main decks.

The biggest change was to install a spacious, shaded aft deck, where Roosevelt could work or entertain while enjoying river or ocean breezes. “When the ship was a Coast Guard cutter, this deck did not exist,” Dropkin says, as we walk across its teak surface, “but it was a favorite area of the president.” That’s probably because the seating on the deck was designed with the wheelchair-bound Roosevelt in mind. Dropkin points to an upholstered settee that follows the curve of the ship’s stern. “It’s about 4 feet deep in the middle,” he says, “to support the president’s legs, something for him to stretch out on. You can almost imagine him sitting there, drink in hand.

“Roosevelt was a martini guy,” Dropkin continues. “A good cocktail was very important to him. He had started having cocktail hour when he was governor of New York, and brought the practice with him to the White House. His wife, Eleanor, wasn’t crazy about that, but they were different people.”

Other changes to the Electra that were more particular to Roosevelt included the removal of the floor coamings designed to contain water that might be sloshing on deck. For example, the low barrier was removed between the main dining room and the presidential bedroom, so that Roosevelt could get himself between the two spaces in his wheelchair. Even more dramatic was the conversion of one of the ship’s two smokestacks into an elevator, allowing the president to move freely between to ship’s two main decks. “An elevator was built into what had been the rear smokestack,” Dropkin says. “It’s an electric elevator now, but when the president used it, it was literally just a platform roped to a pulley. He would pull himself up, or let himself down, arm over arm. Roosevelt was very strong, and always wanted to do things for himself.”

In 1964, Elvis Presley, seen here with entertainer Danny Thomas, purchased the Potomac and donated it to Saint Jude’s Hospital, which promptly sold it. (Image via the Potomac Association )

Often the Potomac was treated as a sort of floating White House. In August 1941, it even ferried the president part of the way to a secret meeting with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill prior to the U.S. involvement in World War II. However, Dropkin says the most typical use of the ship by FDR was for weekend fishing cruises. “They’d board at the Washington, D.C., Navy Yard on, say, Saturday morning and sail down the Potomac River into Chesapeake Bay. Then, they’d find a nice cove, anchor, and spend the weekend fishing.”

Along for the ride was what Dropkin characterizes as “a very, very large crew. There were 42 enlisted men, 12 stewards, and three officers,” he says. “If you count up the number of available bunks and divide, you’ll see it doesn’t add up. So they had what are called hot bunks, to put it in naval terms. When one sailor was on duty, another would sleep. Basically, they’d take turns.”

If the Potomac was initially known for its famous, presidential passenger, after FDR’s death, in 1945, it would eventually become infamous. From 1946 until 1960, the ship was used by the Maryland Tidewater Fisheries Commission, and occasionally by that state’s governor. After that, though, it would begin a slow decline. In 1960, the Potomac was sold and pressed into service as a ferry in the Caribbean, until a different entrepreneur got the bright idea of sailing the ship through the Panama Canal to show her off at the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair. The aging vessel got as far as Southern California, where it languished until 1964, when it was purchased by Elvis Presley at an auction. Apparently, The King shelled out the $55,000 hammer price because he didn’t like the idea of seeing FDR’s yacht chopped into pieces for scrap, but never really want to own the Potomac , so he promptly donated the ship to the Saint Jude Hospital of Memphis, which just as promptly sold it to the first in a series of dreamers and schemers.

In 1981, the Potomac sank in 35 feet of water while docked at the Treasure Island Naval Base in San Francisco Bay. (Image by U.S. Customs, via the Potomac Association )

By August of 1980, the Potomac would be towed for repairs to Pier 26 in San Francisco, where, the following month, it was seized by U.S. Customs and the Drug Enforcement Agency. Although drugs were never found aboard the Potomac , a ship owned by the same owner and anchored alongside the Potomac was loaded with contraband. According to Dropkin’s history of this dark moment in the Potomac ’s past, a Southern California drug ring had been using the Potomac ’s good name, and a fake charity called “The Crippled Children’s Society,” as a front. That October, the Potomac was towed again, this time to the nearby Treasure Island Naval Base in San Francisco Bay where, the following March, its hull was punctured by broken pilings, causing it to sink in 35 feet of water.

The story might have ended there, but once the ship was raised and the hole in its hull was patched, the Potomac was purchased in April of 1981 at yet another auction. This time, the new owner was the Port of Oakland, whose winning bid of $15,000 was also the only bid. But the port’s then-executive director, Walter Abernathy, saw the Potomac as an opportunity for the community and historians alike. Shortly after taking possession of the ship, the port authorized “$400,000 in seed money to restore the ship to its appearance during the Roosevelt era and operate it as a historical and educational resource.” By 1983, the Potomac Association had incorporated to manage the ship’s upkeep and programs, and elected FDR’s oldest son, James, as its chairman. Finally, in 1985, a sitting president, Ronald Reagan, got involved, personally recommending a $2.5 million grant for the ship’s restoration. The grant was approved and matched, and in 1990, the Potomac was designated a National Historical Landmark .

For more than two decades, Les Dropkin has been a tireless volunteer for the Potomac Association .

As we walk through the Potomac , Dropkin explains the limits of a restoration project for a vessel that had seen decades of neglect before sinking. “There’s very little that’s original from the FDR era on the ship today,” he says. “Essentially, everything you see is a re-creation.”

In an effort to get the details right, the restorers carefully studied photographs of the ship during its FDR days, from the furniture to the draperies. And because there were records of the ship’s original construction and subsequent retrofit for the president, the Potomac Association was able to replicate its construction techniques. “When the Electra was built as a Coast Guard cutter, it was a riveted ship,” Dropkin says. “But when it was converted to become the presidential yacht, they had started to use welding. In the restoration, we maintained the ratios—what was welded was re-welded, where there had been rivets we used rivets. A very major concern in the restoration was to make it historically accurate to the fullest extent we could.”

Today, such attention to detail, as well as the $350,000 needed to pay for the Potomac ’s upcoming drydocking, might seem like a luxury the country can’t afford in the face of multi-trillion-dollar deficits. But is $350,000 really all that much to honor the memory of one of our nation’s greatest presidents? After all, we are spending about half that amount every single day to protect our current president’s latest wife, who has chosen not to live in the White House with her husband, at least until their 10-year-old son finishes the school year. Naturally, most parents will be sympathetic with that decision, if not the expense. By comparison, $350,000 to help us remember the man who told a fearful nation that the only thing it had to fear was fear itself, and then proceeded to lead the fight against Adolf Hitler, seems like a rather good deal.

( If you would like to help keep FDR’s yacht shipshape, visit the Potomac Association )

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3 comments so far

At the very end of an otherwise entertaining article, Ben just couldn’t resist taking a cheap shot at the very charming and elegant Mrs. Trump.

As Mr. Marks illustrates, Trump Derangement Syndrome is a horrible disease.

Mr. Marks’ comment about federal expenditures is very timely and appropriate. At a time when we are spending about a million dollars a day to cover the new president’s own travel and family security expenses (including three golfing vacations during his first month in office), 8 hours’ worth of that security and travel to help restore the Potomac, a National Historic Landmark, seems well justified. A very nice article.

Mr Dodsworth, the charming and elegant Mrs Trump is costing the city of New York somewhat around $1,ooo,ooo a DAY for police coverage for each day she chooses to reside not in the White House but at Trump Tower. That is over and above the expense for Secret Service coverage for EIGHTEEN Trump family members. Mr Mark’s innocuous comment was hardly a cheap shot, but perhaps you would enjoy some dip for the chip on your shoulder.

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The USS Potomac served as FDR’s floating White House during World War II.

This article appears in: September 2017

By Eric Niderost

Washington, D.C., is not known for its mild climate, but the summer of 1941 seemed particularly enervating. The city was enveloped in a fierce humid heat that tended to suck the air out of one’s lungs even as it drenched one’s body in perspiration. The political climate matched the torrid temperatures. Most of the world was at war, and the United States had

so far managed to stay out of the spreading conflict. Many Americans were isolationists, ardently wishing to avoid war and taking comfort in the fact that the nation was seemingly protected by the vastness of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. A formal isolationist movement known as the America First Committee was created in the autumn of 1940 and eventually boasted more than 800,000 members nationwide.

Still, the news from abroad was troubling. Nazi Germany controlled most of the European continent and in June had launched a massive offensive against Soviet Russia. It was a titanic struggle, and in the late summer of 1941 the Germans were making such progress it seemed only a matter of time before the Russians would succumb to Adolf Hitler’s war machine. In the Far East the news was just as grim. Japan was still attempting to subdue China and was already casting covetous eyes on the weakly held European colonies of Southeast Asia.

In March 1941 U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt persuaded Congress to pass the Lend-Lease Act, pledging material support, short of going to war, to any country considered vital to the defense of the United States. The chief beneficiary was Great Britain, which was under the dynamic and charismatic leadership of Prime Minister Winston S. Churchill. But Roosevelt repeatedly assured the American public that the United States was not going to war and that measures like Lend-Lease were purely defensive in nature.

While Washington still suffered under the blistering heat, Roosevelt’s Press Secretary, Stephen Early, announced that the president would soon go on a cruise aboard the Potomac. This was not unexpected because Roosevelt had been a virtual White House recluse in recent months. Apart from a brief weekend at his country estate at Hyde Park in early June, and a Potomac cruise in March, the president stayed close to his desk at the White House.

Just the mere thought of a cruise seemed to invigorate the president, and when he held a cabinet meeting on August 2 he was in his usual ebullient mood. “Franklin Roosevelt patted his perspiring forehead and glanced at his cluttered desk,” wrote a Time magazine reporter. “There was … the old optimistic cast in his eye.” The reporter’s observation was not hyperbole. Roosevelt loved the sea and was an avid sailor from his youth.

The wind-dimpled Atlantic waters were like a tonic and the sea air, which was so unlike the stifling, humid hothouse atmosphere of the nation’s capital, helped soothe both his chronic sinus problems and his frame of mind. Once aboard the Potomac, Roosevelt could relax, fish, and even devote a few hours to his beloved stamp collection.

Late Sunday morning, August 3, Roosevelt left the White House and was driven to Union Station to board a special train to New London, Connecticut, where the Potomac was waiting. He had a small entourage with him, a party that included his personal physician U.S. Admiral Ross T. McIntire and his aides.

The Potomac, designed as a recreational vessel for the nation’s hard-working chief executive, was entering a new phase of its maritime career. The ship would play a major role in an elaborate deception designed to throw a veil of secrecy around a first-time summit meeting between Roosevelt and Churchill. With German submarines, which Roosevelt’s described as “those rattlesnakes of the Atlantic,” ever on the prowl, this cloak-and-dagger approach was necessary.

When Franklin Roosevelt took office in 1933 the presidential yacht was the Sequoia, a 104-foot vessel built in 1925. Sequoia’s biggest drawback was that it was made of wood. Roosevelt had been a paraplegic since 1921, and he feared being trapped in a fire. An all-steel ship seemed safer to him, so in 1936 the Coast Guard cutter Electra was commissioned a U.S. Navy vessel and renamed Potomac. Extensively renovated, it was ready for service by 1936.

Potomac was much larger than its predecessor. The vessel was 165 feet long and displaced 416 gross tons. It could also reach cruising speeds of 10 to 13 knots and had a crew of 54 men. It required no fewer than a dozen stewards to cater to the needs of the president and his guests.

The ship’s first real foray into the world of diplomacy occurred when King George VI and Queen Elizabeth came to Washington in June 1939. It was the first time reigning British monarchs had ever visited the United States, and one of the highlights of the tour was a short trip aboard the Potomac to George Washington’s home at Mount Vernon.

Roosevelt grew to love the Potomac and the freedom it gave him to escape the cares of Washington. Not that it was all fun and games; he loved informal talks with congressional leaders and brainstorming strategy sessions with close advisers. Yet when all was said and done Roosevelt usually kept his own counsel. His charm and vibrant wit, while genuine, also were a smokescreen that hid his somewhat enigmatic personality from others.

Churchill was grateful for American aid but wanted more. He also hoped that eventually the United States would join the Allied cause, but he realized this was more than Roosevelt could deliver, at least at that time. For his part, Roosevelt had no desire for war, but he knew he had to slowly but surely prepare the American people for the trials they would almost certainly face in the near future. Roosevelt might have lost the use of his legs, but he was a skilled tightrope walker in the political arena.

Certainly there was a growing need for Anglo-American cooperation in the face of fascist aggression. Roosevelt also mulled the future of Europe once the Nazi scourge had been eliminated from the world. Plans slowly developed for Roosevelt and Churchill to meet to discuss these issues. Each man would bring along military and governmental officials to draw up plans for further Anglo-American cooperation.

The two leaders planned to meet at Argentia on Newfoundland Island in Canada. While Roosevelt and Churchill got to know each other and discussed world affairs, their respective senior diplomatic and military personnel would huddle and draw up plans, laying the groundwork for vital Anglo-American cooperation on air, land, and sea.

The presidential party reached New London at 8:15 pm, the train backing up to within about 100 yards of the waiting Potomac. But before Roosevelt could board all the necessary honors had to be observed. There was a brief 10-minute ceremony with Connecticut Governor Robert A. Hurley and the New London submarine base commander. Once all the formalities were out of the way, the president boarded the ship as a bosun’s pipe squealed a welcoming acknowledgement of his presence.

The president’s staff informed the press corps that reporters would not be allowed on the cruise. A few might be permitted to tag along in the early stages, but once the voyage got underway journalists would be excluded. Potomac would have an escort vessel, the Coast Guard cutter Calypso, but unfortunately there was not enough room to accommodate the press.

“From the time the president boards the Potomac until the time he returns to shore the movement of the ship will be a confidential naval operation under a tight veil of secrecy,” said Hurley. Few if any reporters were suspicious; after all, even though America was still neutral one never knew what Hitler had up his sleeve. U-boats prowling along the Atlantic seaboard posed a real threat to U.S. national security.

The first 24 hours of the cruise were routine and roused no suspicion among the press corps. After a leisurely journey up the coast, Potomac dropped anchor for the night at Harbor of Refuge in Point Judith, Rhode Island. The next morning the ship continued on to South Dartmouth, Massachusetts, where Roosevelt was scheduled to entertain some special guests. Ever the gallant type, the president personally drove a Chris-Craft speedboat to pick them up.

The guests were Crown Princess Martha of Norway, her brother Prince Karl of Sweden, and Martha’s two young children, Ragnhild and Astrid. By all accounts the brown-eyed, 40-year-old princess was tall, elegant, and strikingly handsome. She was, in the words of a breathless admirer, “exactly as a princess should look.”

Roosevelt loved to flirt with the ladies, and nothing put him in a better mood than to have feminine companionship, especially with an old friend like Martha. The president insisted that he personally take the royals on a tour of Potomac. Although he genuinely enjoyed playing host, there was a method to this seemingly frivolous madness. Roosevelt knew, and subsequent events bore this out, that the newspapers would take the bait and prominently feature the royal visitors in their latest editions. It made colorful copy, and it also obscured the real purpose of the cruise.

The Potomac was roughly divided amidships. The forward half included the radio room, galley, guest bedrooms, ship’s bridge, and quarters for the officers and crew. The aft section was truly the “White House” section of the vessel, for it included a saloon, the president’s cabin, and the fantail.

The saloon was essentially the dining room, although to landlubbers the name conjures images of a bar in the Old West. But in ship parlance saloon means a large public area. Tastefully decorated but not ostentatious, the room featured green curtains and framed nautical prints, the latter revealing Roosevelt’s deep love of the sea.

Roosevelt’s guided tour probably did not include his personal cabin. The cabin, faithfully restored when Potomac became a museum ship, is surprisingly small for such an important figure. A modest bed, small dresser, and mirror hover over a miniscule sink. But rank does have its privileges, even in such a tiny cabin. A small side door opens to reveal a flush toilet and a steel sitz tub.

Mobility was always a problem, especially if Roosevelt wanted to go to the ship’s upper deck to do a little fishing off the fantail. The issue was solved when the aft smoke stack, which apparently was not essential for the ship’s operation, was converted into a hidden elevator. Its interior space is about three feet by four, which was just about enough space for his wheelchair. The elevator was raised and lowered by means of a manual rope and pulley system, which again posed no problem for a man of Roosevelt’s muscular build.

The fantail, located on the lower deck of the ship’s stern, was probably Roosevelt’s favorite part of the presidential yacht. It was a place designed for both business and pleasure. The president could receive reports, discuss plans, or simply enjoy a cocktail with friends. The fantail’s most notable feature is a semicircular settee. Roosevelt liked to sit in the center of the settee and hold court, so to speak.

Security was always a factor, especially as the nation approached war. The fantail was covered in bulletproof glass, and after 1940 at least one machine gun was mounted when the president was aboard.

The covert phase of the voyage began after Potomac left South Dartmouth. Potomac quietly and secretly made a rendezvous with the heavy cruiser Augusta, flagship of the Atlantic Fleet, just off Martha’s Vineyard. Augusta was accompanied by the heavy cruiser Tuscaloosa and five destroyers of Destroyer Division 17, Madison, Moffett, Sampson, Winslow, and McDougal.

It was a formidable array of naval power, but the Potomac, which was Lilliputian compared to the other great vessels, still had a vital role to play. After Roosevelt was transferred to the Augusta, Potomac continued to sail the coast as if he were aboard and the fishing trip was in full swing.

Everything possible was done to lull people’s suspicions; not one detail was overlooked. The presidential ensign still flew proudly on the Potomac’s flagstaff, a flag that only was raised when Roosevelt was aboard. When the Potomac entered the 17-mile Cape Cod Canal, the subterfuge went into full swing. Because the canal allowed people to see the ship more closely, an actor of roughly the same facial features and build played Roosevelt to the unsuspecting crowds.

The substitute wore much the same clothes, waving to enthusiastic onlookers while smoking a cigarette in a holder that jutted from his mouth at a 45-degree angle. Everyone was taken in. Many people must have been delighted to have seen the president, not knowing he was completely counterfeit.

The deception was not only visual. Dispatches from Potomac painted an idyllic picture of a president at play, free from cares. “After a night of restful sleep the President is continuing his cruise,” read one note. “He is … enjoying the sea air from the fantail.”

But no secret is really safe in Washington, and rumors began circulating that Roosevelt just might be meeting Churchill. The rumors were substantial enough that the New York Times made note of them. The newspaper printed the speculation under the banner headline: “Meeting of Churchill and Roosevelt on President’s Cruise Reported.”

Rumors might fly, but Potomac’s deceptive cruise continued without interruption. While the presidential yacht continued playing charades, Roosevelt met Churchill and engaged in three days of substantial talks from August 9 to 12. By August 14, the conference over, and the participants, one of whom was Churchill, safe, it was decided to inform the press of the diplomatic progress.

The New York Times banner headline said it all: “Roosevelt, Churchill Draft Peace Aims. Pledging Destruction of Nazi Tyranny; Joint Steps Believed Chartered at Parlay.” Eventually Roosevelt transferred back to the Potomac and on August 16 held a press conference in the yacht’s saloon. Roosevelt affably fended off questions that asked too many details but did not mind giving his impressions of Churchill. Potomac’s smokescreen mission was successfully concluded.

Potomac’s role as a kind of floating cover story was not yet over. On Veteran’s Day, November 11, 1943, Roosevelt visited the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery. He was accompanied by the secretary of war and the U.S. Navy secretary, but no other dignitaries. Perhaps more unusual was the fact that Roosevelt, who usually could be counted on to give a memorable word or two, gave no speech and did not speak to the press. It was to be his last public appearance in Washington for several weeks.

Roosevelt left the White House that very evening, accompanied by a small entourage that included adviser Harry Hopkins and perhaps a couple of other guests. The presidential party motored to Quantico, Virginia, where Potomac was waiting. On the morning of November 12, Potomac rendezvoused with the battleship Iowa, and the president was transferred to the larger ship. A special ramp connected Potomac and Iowa, allowing Roosevelt to remain in his wheelchair when he came aboard.

Roosevelt was beginning a 7,000-mile odyssey that would eventually take him to Teheran, Iran. The Teheran Conference reunited him with Churchill and brought in a third player, Soviet dictator Josef Stalin. The so-called Big Three discussed many issues, including the opening of a second front against Germany.

Once again, Potomac played its role to perfection. Its radio room also posted routine, almost laconic trivialities about good fishing and the like. Once again, no one suspected anything was wrong. Potomac’s second foray into diplomatic subterfuge was also a success.

When Franklin Roosevelt died in April 1945, Potomac’s life as a presidential yacht was at an end. After suffering many ordeals and coming close to being scrapped, Potomac was reborn as a museum ship dedicated to the 32nd U.S. president. It can be visited at Jack London Square in Oakland, California.

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