Though he will be the first president to speak at an ASU commencement ceremony, Barack Obama is just one of five U.S. presidents to visit the University.
Theodore Roosevelt became the first U.S. president to visit ASU when he spoke to students in Tempe in 1911, when ASU was still known as Tempe Normal School and the student publication was the Tempe Normal Student.
Roosevelt, two years removed from being in office, was in the territory of Arizona for the dedication of the Roosevelt Dam. The dam, located northeast of Phoenix on the Salt River, was built as a result of the Reclamation Act of 1902, which he helped pass.
Though he originally only intended to speak to students for two or three minutes from his automobile, according to the Tempe Normal Student, school officials and Territorial Governor Richard Sloan convinced Roosevelt to do more. The president then spoke from Old Main for about 13 minutes to students about the importance of education and how they should live their lives.
“You, in Arizona, remember that every great people have contributed something to the world in the realm of art, science or literature for the sake of adding to the common achievement of mankind,” Roosevelt said, according to a transcript of his speech in the Tempe Normal Student. “I hope you will be trained so that you will do your work better, enjoy books more and appreciate nature and the wonderful country of which you are a part.”
But it was nearly 61 years and under more serious conditions before another president visited the school. Following the death of Arizona Sen. Carl Hayden, President Lyndon Johnson came to speak at ASU at his longtime friend’s memorial services held inside Gammage Auditorium in 1972, University Archivist Robert Spindler said.
“It wasn’t a surprise that President Johnson would come to honor Carl Hayden at this point because they had been longtime friends and political supporters of each other,” Spindler said.
President Johnson and Sen. Hayden served together during Johnson’s 12 years in the Senate.
“Johnson was anxious to honor Hayden and ultimately show appreciation for his close friend,” Spindler said. “It was an important event for Arizona citizens — everyone knew Carl Hayden — and it was an important event for President Johnson to come in and honor Hayden’s accomplishments.”
The next president to visit ASU has also visited the school more times than any other president. Bill Clinton, five days before the 1996 presidential election, campaigned on a stage outside of Gammage Auditorium in front of about 20,000 people.
“I want to just take a minute to ask you what you think we’re building [for] our families,” Clinton said, according to The State Press. “And would we be better off saying, ‘You’re on your own,’ or ‘Here’s what we can do together to give you the tools to build our stronger family life?’ ”
A little more than 10 years later, the 42nd president returned to ASU on an impromptu visit before the 2006 midterm election. Clinton, who was scheduled to speak in Tucson, made a last-second decision to also campaign at ASU for Democratic Congressional candidate Harry Mitchell and Senatorial candidate Jim Pederson on Hayden lawn before a crowd of thousands of students, Spindler said.
Spindler, who watched Clinton speak from the second floor of Hayden Library, said he remembers watching the president speak for about half an hour.
“It was a really emotional and exciting time,” Spindler said. “The crowd on Hayden lawn for that was just immense. It was another one of those things where you’re really struggling to get close enough to really see well.”
Clinton’s latest visit to the University, the most recent by any president, came during the primaries of the 2008 presidential election. The president campaigned on behalf of his wife inside Gammage Auditorium to a crowd of 3,000 in January 2008.
“You watch what we can do,” Clinton said, according to The State Press. “Don’t ever bet against this country when we’ve got our heads on straight and our hearts in the right place.”
Before Clinton’s last two visits, President George W. Bush came to ASU for his 2004 presidential debate against Democratic candidate Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts. The debate at Gammage Auditorium was the third and final one between the candidates before the election.
However, the presence of the media was the most memorable thing of the night, Journalism Professor Dr. Bill Silcock said. Silcock produced a documentary about the preparation that went into putting on the debate and spent the night inside of the media tent located outside of the auditorium.
“I will never forget that night, to be with 3,000 journalists plus from around the world who had gathered around that white tent to watch the political theater of a presidential debate,” Silcock said.
Silcock also said it was exciting and beneficial for ASU students to have been a part of the political process.
“They were caught up in the electricity of the moment,” Silcock said.
But this May’s commencement ceremony will not be Obama’s first visit to ASU. The 44th president spoke in front of a crowd of more than 7,000 in October 2007 on Hayden lawn, according to The State Press.
“I’m asking you to trust my ability to lead this country,” said Obama, then only six months into his presidential campaign. “I am also asking you to trust yourselves. I want you to ask yourselves, ‘how can I get involved?’”
In searching his archives, Spindler said he nearly forgot about Obama’s first visit, but he said it made sense that the then-candidate would stop here because of the size of the University.
“It was still significant that he was willing to come here and campaign here and try to win over the student vote,” Spindler said. “There was ground to be gained by coming to ASU at the time.”
Reach the reporter at snrodri2@asu.edu.
