“U.S. Presidents and the Chautauqua.” 

No less than ten U. S. Presidents and First Ladies have visited the Chautauqua Institution in New York either before, during, or following their period of office. Along the same trail to the summer woods have passed a number of vice-presidents, and several others with aspirations of dwelling in the White House. Jean-Paul Benowitz, Elizabethtown College, discusses all the U. S. Presidents, First Ladies, Vice Presidents, and Presidential Hopefuls who have made use of the Chautauqua as a venue for measuring the American political climate, proposing public policy initiatives, and announcing domestic and foreign policies. Theodore Roosevelt called the Chautauqua “The most American thing in America.” On this Independence Day holiday weekend, let us explore the relationship between the Chautauqua and the American Presidency. At Chautauqua, Franklin Roosevelt affirmed, “We believe in democracy; we believe in freedom.”