• Sunday-What'sUP February 6 - 10:31 pm

Visits to Upper Michigan by U.S. Presidents have been pretty rare. It just so happens we're having one this week, as Mr. Obama will be in Marquette on Thursday. I was reminded of another U.P. visit back in 1913 by former President Theodore Roosevelt. We've mentioned it on a previous Day in History, an incident that brought Teddy to Ishpeming back in 1913.

Late in 1912 a local newspaper - The Ishpeming Iron Ore - published an article accusing Roosevelt of frequent drunkenness. The libel lawsuit that followed captured the attention of the whole country. Here's one of the best reports about it.

Safe travels to the president on his upcoming trip to God's Country.

Have a good week :o)

i am sure that he was not the first to visit...i blieve andrew jackson made a trip to the u.p. i want to say the copper country area, but not to sure.

The new bridge cam is great.

Did the negative get reversed or something? The writing looks backwards on the right side. The license plate on the front of the car looks OK. Maybe there is a technical explanation.

You're right, it was a negative, which had the writing placed on the wrong side. The photo was actually taken a couple of months after the libel trial up north, and is the best example we could find showing how Roosevelt looked at the time.

Only two other "incumbent", presidents have visited the U.P. -Taft in 1911, and George W. Bush in 2004. There were other visits by presidents before or after their presidency.

Four sitting presidents have visited the UP: William Howard Taft,
Gerald Ford, George Bush One, and George Bush Two. Barack
Obama will be No. 5. Eight others have visited here. before or after
their terms, including Abraham Lincoln.
Larry Chabot

Don't forget Dwight Eisenhower, Summer 1961.

Eisenhower was one of the great Presidents.
I think Teddy was also high on the list.

Ike was one of my all-time heroes, but he was no longer president
when he became a temporary Yooper.
Ike left office January 20, 1961 when John F. Kennedy was
inaugurated. Out of office six months, he flew to Land O'Lakes,
Wisconsin on July 16, 1961 and was driven to Maplewood Lodge on
Snap Jack Lake near Watersmeet, Michigan. He spent 12 days
fishing and took time out for a press conference for area news
media.

That is 100% correct, IKE fished with his Brother
in Upper Michigan and used the airport at LandOLakes which was once part of the famous
Gateway Lodge. It's wonderful history and I've seen a few old news reels of him fishing. I think it might have been on a PBS special about
the Northland? This sort of history never gets
tired as it really is interesting. IKE was a very popular and successful President. I believe he had a balanced budget and of course built our famous Interstate Highway system.