president obama alaska trip

President Obama's Trip to Alaska

Here's Why He Traveled to Alaska

President Obama traveled to Alaska to shine a spotlight on what Alaskans in particular have come to know: Climate change is one of the biggest threats we face, it is being driven by human activity, and it is disrupting Americans’ lives right now.

During the visit, the President shared his experience with people around the country first-hand. See highlights from the trip below.

Watch the video on YouTube.

Highlights from the trip.

President Obama did an Instagram takeover on @WhiteHouse during the trip. Follow along:

President Obama delivers remarks at the GLACIER Conference in Alaska.

August 31, 2015

The Administration announces a collaboration to use high-resolution satellite imagery from DigitalGlobe to produce Digital Elevation Models of Alaska and the Arctic. See the blog post.

OSTP Director John Holdren reflects on the two days he and other senior OSTP officials spent traveling in Alaska this past weekend. See his blog post.

Timeline of Major Moments in Alaska's History

Generic expanding thank-you banner with share buttons.

You told the President you're in — now let your friends know, too.

FACEBOOK TWITTER

• Share full article

Advertisement

Supported by

Paring His Bucket List, Obama Relishes Hiking at an Alaskan Glacier

Obama’s alaska tour continues, on tuesday, the president visited a melting glacier in the kenai mountains and bought some pastries at an anchorage cafe..

Seward, Alaska - 1 September 2015 1. US President Barack Obama walking up to foot of Exit Glacier 2. Exit Glacier 3. SOUNDBITE: (English) Barack Obama, US President “You guys have been seeing these signs as we walked, that marked where the Glacier use to be, 1917, 1951. This glacier has lost about a mile and a half over the last couple hundred years, but the pace of the reductions of the glacier are accelerating rapidly each and every year. This is as good as a sign post of what we are dealing with, when it comes to climate change, than anything. This is one of the most studied glaciers, because its so easily accessible.” 4. Exit Glacier 5. SOUNDBITE: (English) Barack Obama, US President “What it indicates, because of the changing patterns of winters with less snow, longer, hotter summers, is how rapidly the glacier is receding and it sends a message about the urgency we are going to need to have when it comes to dealing with this because obviously, when the glaciers erode, that’s also a sign of the amount of water that is being introduced into the oceans, rising sea levels and the warming generally is having an impact on the flora and fauna of this National park. It is spectacular though.” 6. Obama walks down path near Exit Glacier 7. Various of US Coast Guard ship POOL - AP CLIENTS ONLY Anchorage, Alaska - 1 September 2015 8. Obama shakes hands with employees at Snow City cafe before walking to display case 9. Exterior of cafe sign 10. Obama points to display case UPSOUND “Why don’t... I’m gonna take all of those..” 11. Various of Obama shaking hands with people in cafe

By Julie Hirschfeld Davis

• Sept. 1, 2015

KENAI FJORDS NATIONAL PARK, Alaska — President Obama hiked alone up a gravel path toward Exit Glacier, gazing at a mass of flowing ice as it melted into the plain below.

“How’s this?” he marveled as he surveyed the terrain on a cloudless day. “Beats being in the office.”

Mr. Obama is in legacy-building mode here in Alaska, where he has come to talk about the rapidly unfolding effects of climate change and the urgent need to address it. He saw the consequences of global warming during his trek to the glacier , which has receded more than a mile over the past 200 years because of rising temperatures.

“This is as good a signpost of what we’re dealing with when it comes to climate change as just about anything,” Mr. Obama said.

But the president is also in bucket-list mode, increasingly determined to use his remaining 15 months in office to do and see spectacular things. These days, when Mr. Obama’s policy agenda overlaps with an irresistible sightseeing opportunity, he grabs it.

So it was on Tuesday as the president donned hiking boots, black slacks and a slate-gray athletic jacket and boarded a helicopter from Anchorage to Seward to hike to the glacier. Amid a landscape of mountain peaks, glacial lakes, moose and bears, Mr. Obama met up with the television star Bear Grylls for a crash course in wilderness survival techniques.

Later, he toured more glaciers by boat, cruising through the blue-green water of Resurrection Bay, where a sea otter paddled and a porpoise leapt. “When I’m not president, you might find me over there in that cabin,” he mused, pointing to a log cabin nestled in Thumb Cove.

Mr. Obama spent three hours on the boat, a National Park Service ranger at his side, prowling the deck as the craft passed by tree-covered mountains and stony cliffs. He admired a group of Steller sea lions napping on a rock. When he reached Bear Glacier, the longest in the park, the president pronounced it “spectacular,” pointing out the icebergs in front of it, which he said were “as big as a Costco.”

Indulging second-term wanderlust is a well-worn tradition for presidents, who often strike out for far-flung destinations after they are freed from the constraints and set itineraries of politicking. With such travel, they look to shape the narratives by which they will be remembered.

“Trips in the second term are designed with an eye toward legacy-building,” said Kathryn Dunn Tenpas , a Brookings Institution fellow who has studied presidential travel. “If you can find a picturesque place that you’d like to visit and that fits nicely with a policy priority or announcement, it’s a good idea to make that happen while you can.”

Mr. Obama has been trying. Last year, on his way back from a NATO summit meeting in Wales, he had his pilot park Marine One at an air base, and he rode in his motorcade to Stonehenge so he could stroll around the ancient site. “How cool is this?” he said at the time. “Knocked it off the bucket list.”

Dan Pfeiffer, a former senior adviser to the president, said Mr. Obama “never forgave us” for not arranging for him to visit Angkor Wat when he traveled to Cambodia in 2012. When Mr. Obama’s staff members find an opportunity to “add something interesting” to the usual meetings and events of presidential travel, they try to do so, as they did with a 2013 visit to Petra in Jordan , Mr. Pfeiffer said.

The visits “serve a dual purpose,” he said, by satisfying the president’s interest and giving local residents a chance to “show off their most prized locales and sights.”

On the Alaska trip, Mr. Pfeiffer added, the hiking and fjord-touring were “fun” for the president but also spoke “directly to the core message of the trip.” The photographs and videos of Mr. Obama’s sojourn, he said, would be “seen more through social media than any speech or interview that he might do.”

Alaska may seem an odd choice for a president who has never been seen as having a penchant for wilderness issues, as did Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Lyndon B. Johnson and Jimmy Carter, said Douglas Brinkley, a historian who has written about the history of conservation efforts in Alaska.

“Barack Obama is much more urban — he’s not an outdoorsman, a fisher, a hunter — but like a lot of second-term presidents, he has understood the beauty of the Antiquities Act when you have an intransigent Congress,” Mr. Brinkley said, noting that the president had used the law to preserve vast stretches, including in Alaska, in recent years.

“He wants a climate legacy,” Mr. Brinkley added, “and anything that contributes to that legacy is front and center getting his attention.”

Most tourists and campers who come to this slice of southcentral Alaska do not travel with a motorcade of more than a dozen vehicles. But Mr. Obama has been “eagerly anticipating” the trip, Josh Earnest, the White House press secretary, said.

Mr. Earnest noted that the president often lamented how much time he was forced to spend inside, his movements tightly controlled because of security constraints and the size of his entourage. In addition to a security detail and a physician, there are more than a dozen members of the news media, as well as aides and advisers.

Even on Tuesday, Mr. Obama — who has referred to his occasional attempts to break out of the presidential bubble as moments when “the bear is loose” — found his outdoor adventure limited. Mr. Earnest said the Secret Service had ruled out certain activities that Mr. Grylls had proposed for the segment he was taping for his show, “Running Wild With Bear Grylls,” which is to air this year on NBC.

But that did not stop the tourist in chief from enjoying his outing. “It is spectacular,” he said as he turned to approach the glacier. “We want to make sure that our grandkids can see this.”

An earlier version of this article misstated the part of Alaska where Kenai Fjords National Park is located. It is in southcentral Alaska, not southwestern.

How we handle corrections

President Obama's Alaska Visit: The Instagrammer-in-Chief's Photo Diary

By Cynthia Drescher

Instagram content

This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from.

Obama began his trip with a declaration, renaming Alaska's Mount McKinley to Denali, its native Alaskan name. The mountain was given its second moniker in honor of President McKinley—an Ohioan who never even visited Alaska—in 1896. Obama's decision ended a debate over the validity of the name that dates back to 1975. Air Force One later landed in Anchorage, and the President used the occasion to share his very first Instagram image, of Denali on the horizon. Denali National Park ranks as one of our 10 national parks to see before you die .

Resurrection Bay, Kenai Peninsula

On an excursion to observe climate change in the region, Obama took a boat trip to Resurrection Bay outside the city of Seward. Of it, he noted: "Resurrection Bay is one of those places that reminds you of all the beauty this country has to offer. It's home to whales (I got to see one!), sea lions, and dozens of other species. Surrounded by jagged cliffs and alpine glaciers, this is a place that's worth protecting."

Exit Glacier, Kenai Fjords National Park

Still outside Seward, Obama used his visit to Kenai Fjords National Park to meet with other locals and tourists, announcing the Every Kid in a Park program. The initiative makes visits to U.S. public lands free for every child in the fourth grade (and their families). Here, the president poses with a marker showing the location of the edge of the glacier in his birth year, 1961.

Harding Icefield, Kenai Fjords National Park

Before continuing on his Alaskan itinerary, Obama filmed an episode of "Running Wild with Bear Grylls" and even took a selfie with the adventurer. Harding Icefield, of which Exit Glacier is a part, was created around 23,000 years ago and today covers some 700 square miles of Alaska's Kenai Mountains. Visitors can experience this vista while hiking the 8.2-mile round trip Harding Icefield Trail.

Caitlin Morton

Jessica Puckett

Jamie Spain

Meaghan Kenny

Dillingham, Nushagak Bay

In addition to stopping at Dillingham Middle School to perform a traditional Yup'ik dance with local children, the president visited salmon fisherman in the Bristol Bay area. Of his experience, Obama said: "I had the opportunity to stand on a beach and watch subsistence fisherman pull their catches up out of the water. If you've eaten wild salmon, there's a good chance it came from here — and having sampled some pretty outstanding salmon jerky, I can attest that it's delicious. The region provides 40 percent of America's wild-caught seafood, and helps support a $2 billion commercial-fishing industry whose jobs extend beyond Alaska's borders."

With this stop in a town of 3,000 residents, Obama became the first president to travel north of the Arctic Circle. Kotzebue is located 26 miles north of the circle and, as Obama observed that "the town's main roadways, the community’s blood line, runs right above the Kotzebue Sound, making it very vulnerable to coastal erosion and the intense arctic storms that can raise the water levels much higher than normal high tides."

Kivalina Island

Before departing Alaska after a jam-packed visit, Air Force One made a low pass over this tiny island. Kivalina is an Arctic town fast losing land to the sea from erosion, and further threatened by the rise in sea levels. On Instagram, Obama wrote: "For many Alaskans, it’s no longer a question of if they have to relocate—but when. There aren’t many other places in America that have to deal with questions of relocation right now. But there will be. What’s happening here is America’s wake-up call."

Adventure Photography in Moab

By signing up you agree to our User Agreement (including the class action waiver and arbitration provisions ), our Privacy Policy & Cookie Statement and to receive marketing and account-related emails from Traveller. You can unsubscribe at any time. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

clock This article was published more than  8 years ago

The fascinating (and scenic) history of presidential visits to Alaska

For nearly a century, Alaska has served as mainly a toe-touch state for presidents. Next week, President Obama will change all that.

Obama departs Aug. 31 for what will soon be the most extensive Alaska tour in history by a sitting American president. While one other sitting American president has spent more time in Alaska -- Warren G. Harding -- Obama will travel further by journeying further north while also touching southern parts of the state. (Having government planes and helicopters at one's disposal -- something Harding lacked -- helps.)

In addition to traveling to Anchorage for a State Department-sponsored meeting of Arctic Council policymakers , he will fly over glaciers near Seward, in the southcentral part of the state; visit with fishing operators in Dillingham, on the southwest's Bristol Bay; and meet with residents in Kotzebue , 26 miles north of the Arctic Circle.

While past presidents have visited the state for a variety of reasons -- to inaugurate a railroad terminal or meet with a fellow head of state or do a bit of fishing, for example -- Obama's trip has a single purpose: Make the case for his environmental agenda. His itinerary will allow him to celebrate some of the state's most vibrant ecosystems, including the wild salmon runs in Bristol Bay, and its most imperiled, such as the Arctic.

Michael Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club, noted that not only are towns such as Kotzebue coping with retreating sea ice and coastal erosion linked to climate change,  they are pursuing renewable energy projects now in an effort to reduce their reliance on high-priced diesel.

"Alaska is the perfect place to visit to showcase the impact of climate change not just on the environment, but the economy," Brune said in an interview.

[ How climate change is hitting Alaska's Arctic villages, hard ]

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) said she welcomed Obama's visit, but hoped he would recognize both the possibilities inherent in her state's changing landscape -- and not just the pitfalls.

"Unfortunately we don’t get a lot of presidents here," she said. "Typically when they come, they come for a refueling stop. It makes it harder for us to have people in the White House who know and understand our issues."

" I do hope he’s willing to keep his eyes and ears out for not for the things that he wants to hear played back to him, but is truly looking at our state for the opportunities it presents, as well as our challenges," Murkowski said in an interview Tuesday.

But what about those other presidents, who set foot in the 49th state at different points over the past 92 years? Here's a look at when they went, what they did, and why:

Warren G. Harding, July 8-23, 1923

Harding made history by becoming  the first president to visit Alaska while in office, and did so in style. The nation's 29th president journeyed by ship from Seattle and made at least nine separate stops in a trip that included a train ride from Seward in the southeast to Fairbanks.

The "Congressional Special" train that carried Harding and his party, which now sits in Fairbanks' Pioneer Park, was part of a celebration of the completion of the Alaska Railroad. Harding drove in a golden spike at Nenana on July 15 with much fanfare; on Aug. 2, he died, while still on his so-called "Voyage of Understanding."

Franklin D. Roosevelt, Aug. 3-9, 1944

As part of trip across the Pacific during World War II, Roosevelt's trip included an inspection and fishing trip. In the course of it, he went to the Southeast, Kodiak and the Aleutians. For those keeping track, Juneau ranked as his most productive fishing spot.

Dwight Eisenhower, June 12, 1960

While Eisenhower is the president who ushered Alaska into statehood, he didn't spend much time there. While en route to Asia, Eisenhower addressed troops at Elmendorf Air Force Base and cruised through Anchorage in a parade.

Recalling that in Kansas it was "synonymous with the gold and glamour of the Yukon and Klondike; the home of sourdoughs and Eskimos ... certainly I can assure you that never for a moment did it enter my head that one day as President of the United States I would urgently recommend statehood for Alaska and later welcome it as a State into our great Union."

Lyndon B. Johnson, Nov. 2-3, 1966

Nursing a sore thumb on his return from Asia, Johnson received an enthusiastic reception from a crowd at midnight when he journeyed from Elmendorf to downtown Anchorage. Later, according to his diary , he complained that the media reported that Robert F. Kennedy was "mobbed" by 200 people while he had gotten a much larger crowd.

"We've got to get some local color on this Alaska arrival," he told his aides over a nightcap in a suite at the Westward Hotel. "At midnight, with 30,000, I don't see why we can't get color. But we won't."

Richard Nixon, Sept. 26, 1971

Nixon's presidency marked several international firsts, and Alaska was no exception. By stopping at Elmendorf Air Force Base and meeting Nixon there, Japanese Emperor Hirohito became the first Japanese emperor to step on foreign soil.

He and Empress Kojun met the president and his wife, Pat, at the base, where they both delivered remarks, and then went to the residence of Lt. Gen. Robert Ruegg before parting ways.

Gerald Ford, Nov. 17, 1974, and Nov. 29, 1975

Ford restricted his two Alaska visits to Air Force bases -- first Elmendorf in Anchorage, and then Eielson in Fairbanks. On his second visit , Ford noted with pride he had visited Alaska "just a little over a year ago on a previous trip" to the Pacific.

"This obviously doesn't make me a 'sourdough,' but I am no newcomer to the knowledge that this great land, a part of another great land, the United States of America, is an inspiring and shining northern star in our constellation of stars," he said.

Jimmy Carter, June 23, 1979, and July 9-11, 1980

Carter's presidency transformed the state's landscape: The Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, which he signed just before leaving office on Dec. 2, 1980, provided federal protection for more than 157 million acres in the state.

But he didn't spend much time there while in office, stopping over twice. The first time, on his way to the Tokyo Economic Summit, he attended a reception at Elmendorf's Officers Club with Alaskan political leaders and citizens. On his second visit -- this time on his return from Japan -- he stayed overnight at the base and then flew by helicopter 121 miles to Clarence Lake to have a five-hour fishing trip with then-Secretary of State Edmund Muskie; Rupe Andrews, director of the Alaska State Division of Sport Fishing; and Alaska Gov. Jay Hammond (R).

Speaking to reporters before he boarded Air Force One for Washington, Carter said that he had "a very delightful and a very successful fishing trip. ... We had a chance to fish for about five hours and to travel about an hour-and-a-half in and back and really thoroughly enjoyed the brief vacation. It reminds us again of the beauty of Alaska and the wonderful gifts that God has given our country, and I'm very grateful for this chance to see part of it."

It is worth noting that during that fishing expedition, Carter, like Harding, set foot on a glacier. Writing later in his book "An Outdoor Journal," he recalled, "We flew northward from Anchorage, circled Mount McKinley, landed on one of the glaciers to see the slowly flowing ice at first hand, and flew close to some cliffs to observe a number of Dall sheep on the steep mountainsides."

Ronald Reagan, Jan. 16, 1983, and May 2-3, 1984

Reagan passed through Elmendorf in 1983  before conducting diplomacy more than a year later in Fairbanks. During that second trip, he welcomed Pope John Paul II  in an outdoor ceremony at Fairbanks International Airport just after returning from China. Reagan told the pope, ''In a violent world, Your Holiness, you have been a minister of peace and love.''

In addition to meeting with the pope for the second time during the stop, Reagan also visited the University of Alaska-Fairbanks and stayed overnight at then-Sen. Frank Murkowski's (R) house.

Bill Clinton, Nov. 11, 1994

Clinton used his brief Alaska appearance as an opportunity to snack. He journeyed downtown with then-Gov. Tony Knowles (D) to grab a sandwich. As they stopped by Downtown Deli -- which Knowles used to own -- Clinton told reporters, "I want you to hear Tony's spiel for reindeer stew."

George W. Bush, Feb. 16, 2002, Nov. 14, 2005, and Aug. 4, 2008

Bush is the only American president to live in Alaska -- for a few months in 1971 -- and as a wartime president, Bush devoted both of his multiple visits to addressing the troops at its two major Air Force bases.

On his first appearance at Elmendorf, referring to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, he said: "It's hard for me to figure out what was going through the minds of those who planned and attacked America. They must have thought we were soft."

" They were wrong!" an audience member cried out.

" Yes, they were," Bush responded.

Obama, Nov. 12, 2009

Obama stayed in Alaska for less than two hours when he refueled here during his first year in office. Still, he told the audience at Elmendorf Air Force Base that he was "really excited because I had up until today visited 49 states, so this is officially my 50th state."

Six years later, he's ready for a repeat.

Correction: An earlier version of this piece misstated the location of Seward, Alaska, and the sponsor of this month's Arctic policy meeting in Anchorage.

President Obama Shore Tour in Kotzebue, Alaska

President Obama was seen taking a tour of the shoreline of Kotzebue, Alaska. This trip to Kotzebue made President Obama the first sitting pr… read more

President Obama was seen taking a tour of the shoreline of Kotzebue, Alaska. This trip to Kotzebue made President Obama the first sitting president to go north of the Arctic Circle. Derek Martin showed the president Kotzebue Sound and explained the Kotzebue Shore Avenue Project, saying that it was a “permanent solution to a continual problem” of erosion from storm surges. President Obama also talked with John Baker , winner of the 2011 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race . The president was also introduced to Mr. Baker’s wife, daughters, and two puppies. President Obama put on a Team Baker hat and jacket and examined the sled used to win the race.

Program ends abruptly. close

Javascript must be enabled in order to access C-SPAN videos.

• Text type Text People Graphical Timeline
• Filter by Speaker All Speakers John Q. Baker Derek Martin Barack Obama
• Search this text

*This text was compiled from uncorrected Closed Captioning.

People in this video

Hosting Organization

• White House White House

More Videos From This Event

• Alaskan Cultural Performance

President Obama on Climate Change in Alaska

Airing details, related video.

President Obama spoke about the impact on Alaska of climate change. He made the speech at the high school in Kotzebue, a…

President Obama on Climate Change

President Obama delivered remarks on climate change, calling it a problem that was happening here and now, and appealed …

President Obama's Alaska Trip and Environmental Policy

Ben Geman reported by telephone about President Obama’s upcoming trip to Alaska, focusing on climate change, where he wo…

Weekly Presidential Address

In his weekly address President Obama talked about his upcoming trip to Alaska to view the effects of climate change. He…

President Obama to visit Alaska’s Arctic region in bid to fight climate change

President Obama announced Thursday while vacationing on Martha’s Vineyard that he will visit Alaska at the end of the month to try to draw attention to his fight against climate change.

• Show more sharing options
• Copy Link URL Copied!

President Obama will become the first sitting commander in chief to visit the Alaskan Arctic, the White House announced Thursday, the latest in a string of stops this summer that have been presidential firsts.

In a trip from Aug. 31 to Sept. 3, Obama will visit the state’s rapidly melting glaciers and meet with hunters and fishermen whose livelihoods are threatened by global warming as he seeks to draw attention to his fight against climate change.

Last month, Obama became the first sitting U.S. president to visit both Kenya and Ethiopia.

In a video released Thursday from the vacation home he’s staying at here, Obama said he’s going to Alaska because it is on the “front lines of one of the greatest challenges we face this century.”

“You see, climate change once seemed like a problem for future generations, but for most Americans, it’s already a reality,” he said.

He listed deeper droughts, longer wildfire seasons and floods as evidence of the current effects.

See the most-read stories this hour >>

“What’s happening in Alaska isn’t just a preview of what will happen to the rest of us if we don’t take action,” he said. “It’s our wake-up call. The alarm bells are ringing. And as long as I’m president, America will lead the world to meet this threat — before it’s too late.”

Later in September, Obama plans to talk with Pope Francis about climate change when the pontiff visits the White House during a tour of the northeastern U.S., as both prepare for an international climate summit in Paris in December.

For more White House coverage, follow @cparsons

How bad was L.A.’s smog when Barack Obama went to college here?

How Obama’s new emissions rules will likely shape the White House race

California is ahead of the game as Obama releases Clean Power Plan

More to Read

How a drilling project and Israel-Hamas overshadow Biden’s climate record for young voters

May 7, 2024

The Arctic Ocean could be ‘ice-free’ within the decade, researchers warn

March 5, 2024

Opinion: Protecting Alaska’s wilderness — and our Indigenous way of life — is critical to a green future

Jan. 8, 2024

Start your day right

Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.

You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.

Christi Parsons was the Los Angeles Times’ White House correspondent from 2008-18.

More From the Los Angeles Times

World & Nation

8 dead, at least 40 injured as farmworkers’ bus overturns in Florida

American sought after ‘So I raped you’ Facebook message is detained in France

European Union nations endorse sweeping reforms of migrant asylum system

Minnesota Equal Rights Amendment draws rival crowds for crucial votes

May 14, 2024

• Log in/Log out (Opens in new window)
• All content
• Rural Alaska
• Crime & Courts
• Alaska Legislature
• ADN Politics Podcast
• National Opinions
• Letters to the Editor
• Nation/World
• Film and TV
• Outdoors/Adventure
• High School Sports
• UAA Athletics
• National Sports
• Food and Drink
• Visual Stories
• Alaska Journal of Commerce (Opens in new window)
• The Arctic Sounder
• The Bristol Bay Times
• Legal Notices (Opens in new window)
• Peak 2 Peak Events (Opens in new window)
• Educator of the Year (Opens in new window)
• Celebrating Nurses (Opens in new window)
• Top 40 Under 40 (Opens in new window)
• Alaska Spelling Bee (Opens in new window)
• Alaska Craft Brew Festival
• Best of Alaska
• Spring Career Fair (Opens in new window)
• Achievement in Business
• Youth Summit Awards
• Lynyrd Skynyrd Ticket Giveaway
• Teacher of the Month
• 2024 Alaska Summer Camps Guide (Opens in new window)
• 2024 Graduation (Opens in new window)
• Alaska Visitors Guide 2024 (Opens in new window)
• 2023 Best of Alaska (Opens in new window)
• Alaska Health Care (Opens in new window)
• Merry Merchant Munch (Opens in new window)
• On the Move AK (Opens in new window)
• Senior Living in Alaska (Opens in new window)
• Youth Summit Awards (Opens in new window)
• Alaska Visitors Guide
• ADN Store (Opens in new window)
• Classifieds (Opens in new window)
• Jobs (Opens in new window)
• Place an Ad (Opens in new window)
• Customer Service
• Sponsored Content

US presidents who visited Alaska while in office

The White House announced on Friday that President Barack Obama will visit Alaska at the end of August . It'll be the first time since he was elected that he has visited Alaska beyond Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson.

The visit raises the question: What other sitting presidents have visited the 49th State? Here's our quick stab at a history:

Warren Harding, 1923

Franklin Roosevelt, 1944

Dwight Eisenhower, 1960

Lyndon Johnson, 1966

Richard Nixon, 1971

Gerald Ford, 1974 and 1975

Ronald Reagan, 1983 and 1984

Bill Clinton, 1994

George W. Bush, 2004 and 2005

The above list refers to visits where the president made a public appearance, not refueling stops or trips where the president may have briefly left his plane to address military personnel, as Obama did in 2009, but was separated from the general public during the stopover.

Two of the trips involved meeting other international leaders in Alaska; Nixon met Japanese Emperor Hirohito in Anchorage and Reagan met Pope John Paul II in Fairbanks in 1984.

Eisenhower had previously been in Alaska as a general to inspect military facilities and, some say, fish.

John Kennedy visited Alaska twice as a senator, campaigning for Alaska Democrats and in his own campaign for president. Nixon campaigned here for Republicans when he was vice president. George W. Bush lived in Fairbanks briefly before pursuing politics. Herbert Hoover, then secretary of commerce, toured Alaska with Harding. Jimmy Carter has come to Alaska to fish since leaving office.

Roosevelt was the only presidential visitor whose itinerary did not include either Anchorage or Fairbanks. He traveled by ship to Southeast, Kodiak and the Aleutians.

The most ambitious trip to Alaska, by far, was Harding's. He departed from Seattle on July 5, 1923, and returned to Vancouver, British Columbia, on July 16, 1923. During his tour he spoke in Metlakatla, Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway, Valdez, Seward, Anchorage, Nenana and Fairbanks, among other stops.

Alaska's first brush with presidential hopefuls came in 1869 when William Seward, a leading contender for the Republican nomination in 1860, traveled to Sitka and delivered a speech. Seward became the secretary of state for the man who defeated him for the nomination, Abraham Lincoln, and is credited with arranging the purchase of Alaska from Russia.

Mike Dunham

Mike Dunham has been a reporter and editor at the ADN since 1994, mainly writing about culture, arts and Alaska history. He worked in radio for 20 years before switching to print.

Watch CBS News

Obama pushes climate change, energy agenda ahead of Alaska trip

By Reena Flores

August 29, 2015 / 6:21 PM EDT / CBS News

Ahead of a three-day trip to Alaska that begins Monday, President Obama is thrusting climate change into the spotlight, warning of the dangers global warming presents for the United States.

"If another country threatened to wipe out an American town, we'd do everything in our power to protect ourselves," Mr. Obama said Saturday in a video . "Climate change poses the same threat, right now."

"This is all real," the president added. "This is happening to our fellow Americans right now."

Mr. Obama cited Alaska's increasing wildfires, melting glaciers and eroding shorelines as reason enough for America to lead on climate policy. He touted U.S. and Chinese negotiations to set "ambitious" climate targets and said it was "a good sign" ahead of December's global climate summit in Paris.

But as the president pushes for more awareness on the global warming front, Mr. Obama also treads a shaky line on energy policy, especially when visiting a state whose economy relies heavily on oil.

Defending a controversial decision earlier this year to grant the Royal Dutch Shell company a permit to drill off the Alaskan coast , the president assured his audience that he too shares concerns about offshore drilling.

"I remember the BP spill in the Gulf of Mexico all too well," Mr. Obama said. But, he said, America's economy still relies largely on fossil fuels, and "as long as that's the case, I believe we should rely more on domestic production than on foreign imports, and we should demand the highest safety standards in the industry - our own."

• Obama administration grants Arctic drilling approval to Shell
• 4 in 10 adults have never heard of climate change

"We don't rubber-stamp permits," the president added. "We made it clear that Shell has to meet our high standards in how they conduct their operations."

Mr. Obama will be the first sitting president to visit the Alaska Arctic, when he travels to the town Kotzebue on the last leg of his trip.

In their own video, Republicans continued to knock the president for negotiating a nuclear deal with Iran that ensures Tehran will get "a cash bonanza" after economic sanctions are lifted.

"Iran doesn't behave like the peaceful countries that have nuclear programs," Rep. Ed Royce, R-California, said in a video Saturday. "Why does this agreement treat it like one?"

"Iran gets a cash bonanza, it gets a boost to its international standing and a path toward nuclear weapons," the House Foreign Affairs Committee chair added.

When Congress reconvenes after its August recess, the legislative body will have to vote on whether to approve or disapprove the deal. Mr. Obama has warned that he would veto the bill if Congress rejects the deal.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair Bob Corker, R-Tennessee, said earlier this week that the deal is likely to be implemented, despite GOP attempts to block it .

"My guess is this agreement is going to happen," Corker said during an event at Belmont University on Wednesday. "At the end of the day, I don't think there's going to be likely a veto-proof number of people to keep it from occurring."

But Corker's acknowledgements aren't stopping Republicans from moving forward with their objections.

"We all wanted this negotiation to succeed, but as America's representatives, we must ask - is this agreement in the long-term national security interest of the United States?" Royce said.

• Barack Obama

More from CBS News

• Economy & Markets
• Digital Life

Obama Visits Alaska: Itinerary, Events For President's Trip Addressing Climate Change

President Barack Obama is set to travel to Alaska Monday for a three-day trip largely focused on addressing climate change. Obama is expected to speak with a number of Native Alaskans and address a major conference in his first day in Anchorage.

Obama was scheduled to leave on a flight from Joint Base Andrews in Maryland Monday at about 10:40 a.m. EDT, according to the White House. The president was scheduled to land at Anchorage's Elmendorf Air Force Base about seven hours later. He'll then participate in a roundtable discussion with Alaska Natives at a convention center. Obama was scheduled to cap his day by speaking around 5 p.m. local time (9 p.m. EDT) at the conference on Global Leadership in the Arctic: Cooperation, Innovation, Engagement and Resilience -- commonly called the GLACIER conference -- and was to address climate change issues.

It's North to Alaska for Pres Obama today. (North by Northwest, actually). @POTUS ' 3 day visit focuses on the Arctic & climate change. — Mark Knoller (@markknoller) August 31, 2015

After 7 hour flight, Pres Obama takes part in a roundtable with Alaska Natives and later addresses the US sponsored intl GLACIER conference. — Mark Knoller (@markknoller) August 31, 2015

The meeting with Alaska Native leaders Monday will include people who have been affected by rising sea levels, reports KTUU in Anchorage. That discussion is a prelude to the GLACIER conference, which will feature Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell and Secretary of State John Kerry. Prior to Obama's keynote speech, local leaders are expected to address the effects of climate change on their lives and the role of indigenous people in Alaskan culture, according to the Alaska Dispatch News . Some 400 people are expected at the conference, with about one-third of the attendees being Alaskans.

But Obama's first move will likely be officially announcing the renaming of Mount McKinley, the highest mountain in the country, named after President William McKinley, a decision that sparked perhaps unexpected controversy, according to CNN. The new name , Denali, means "the high one" in the local Koyukon language and will be a nod to local culture. Indigenous people and locals have called the mountain Denali for years, despite it officially being named Mount McKinley on federal documents.

"With our own sense of reverence for this place, we are officially renaming the mountain Denali in recognition of the traditions of Alaska Natives and the strong support of the people of Alaska," said Jewell, according to the Associated Press. Some Republicans, especially from McKinley's native Ohio, have criticized the renaming as an abuse of government power.

Later in his Alaska trip, Obama was scheduled to meet with more locals to discuss climate change, visit a national park and even film an episode of a television show with famous survivalist Bear Grylls.

President Obama will tape an episode of "Running Wild with Bear Grylls" while in Alaska, to air later this year, NBC says. — Dave Itzkoff (@ditzkoff) August 31, 2015

© Copyright IBTimes 2024. All rights reserved.

OpenAI Gives ChatGPT New Powers To See, Hear

A 13-year Fight For Justice In Philippine Activist's Murder

Bid To End Deadly Cooking Methods Which Stoke Global Warming

Saudi Arabia's Billion-dollar Football League A Work In Progress

Senate Prevents Potential Air Travel Chaos, Reauthorizes FAA For Five-Years

Panama Papers Law Firm Boss Ramon Fonseca Dead

Pandemic Agreement Talks Go To The Wire

Low-cost MRI Paired With AI Produces High-quality Results

School's Out: How Climate Change Threatens Education

Hong Kong Demands Online Platforms Remove Banned Protest Song

President Obama Wraps Up His Alaska Trip, History Of Wisconsin And The UP, How Millennials Are Changing Food

It’s no secret that young people are increasingly interested in cooking, eating and sharing pictures of their food, but why? Our guest explores the millennial obsession with food, and how it will affect the future of consumption. We also learn why the Upper Peninsula isn’t a part of Wisconsin, and we talk to a White House reporter about President Obama’s trip to Alaska, which wraps up Wednesday.

Featured in this Show

President obama wraps up his trip to alaska.

On Wednesday President Barack Obama wraps up his historic trip to Alaska. He’s the first sitting president to visit the Alaskan Arctic. We talk to a White House reporter about how the president’s trip went.

How Wisconsin Lost The UP

We take a look at state history with the story of why the Upper Peninsula is part of Michigan and not Wisconisn.

Food Obsession And How Millennials Are Shaping The Future Of Food

The constant social media posts, food-conscious shopping decisions and popularity of shows like Chopped and No Reservations make one thing clear; millennials are obsessed with food. That’s according to our guest, the author of A Taste of Generation Yum, who explores why young people are so focused on food, and how it will affect an entire industry.

Episode Credits

• Rob Ferrett Host
• Veronica Rueckert Host
• Amanda Magnus Producer
• Matt Oleson Producer
• Sarah Wheaton Guest
• James Johonnott Guest
• Eve Turow Guest
• Veronica Rueckert Interviewer

Wisconsin Public Radio, © Copyright 2024, Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System and Wisconsin Educational Communications Board.

Related Stories

Biden-Trump Gaffe Tracker: Biden Gets 2021 Inflation Rate Wrong, Trump Bizarrely Riffs About Hot Dogs, Hannibal Lecter And Sinatra

A s concerns have grown that former President Donald Trump, 77, and President Joe Biden, 81, are too old to serve another term amid repeated rhetorical missteps since announcing their campaigns, here’s a list of the most notable recent gaffes.

Biden (May 14) Biden told Yahoo Finance inflation was “at 9% when I came in,” repeating a claim he made in a CNN interview earlier this month (inflation was at 1.4% year-over-year when Biden took office in January 2021, according to the Consumer Price Index).

Trump (May 11) Trump referred to former President Jimmy Carter as “Jimmy Connors,” chuckling as he caught the error during a campaign speech in New Jersey, clarifying that “Jimmy Carter had a bad reputation,” but “right now he is considered a totally brilliant president by comparison” to Biden.

Trump (May 11) The former president bizarrely congratulated “the late, great Hannibal Lecter,” the serial killer cannibalist character from a series of Thomas Harris novels, then pointed out “we have people that are being released into our country that we don’t want in our country,” referring to undocumented migrants.

Trump (May 11) In another odd reference, Trump told the crowd in New Jersey he had just eaten a hot dog, against advice he said Frank Sinatra once gave him to “never eat before you perform,” to which Trump said he responded “I’m not performing, I’m a politician,” but Sinatra died in 1998, before Trump’s entrance into politics.

Biden (May 9) The president said Candace Parker—a two-time WNBA Most Valuable Player and Olympic gold medalist who retired from the Aces after 16 seasons in the league—“will be considered one of the greatest all-time coaches” while honoring the Aces for their 2023 WNBA championship win at the White House, according to a transcript of his remarks.

Trump (May 9) The former president got the age of his 18-year-old son Barron wrong in an interview with Telemundo, telling the TV station “he’s pretty young, I will say, he’s 17,” while reacting to the news that Barron was tapped to be a delegate for the Republican National Convention in July (Barron turned 18 in March).

Biden (April 26) Biden repeated a heavily disputed claim that he was arrested while standing on the porch with a Black family who was moving in to Lynnfield, Delaware, as it was being desegregated and protesters gathered outside, recalling to radio host Howard Stern he was “brought back” home by the police—previous fact-checks by multiple outlets into Biden’s oft-repeated claim have unearthed newspaper articles from 1959 reporting arrests at protests outside two homes of Black families near where Biden was living at the time, but there’s no evidence Biden was among those taken into custody.

Biden (April 24) Biden appeared to read out loud a direction from his teleprompter to “pause” during a speech before the North America Building Trade Union: “Imagine what we can do next, four more years, pause,” Biden said, before the crowd began chanting “four more years,” a frequent Biden rallying cry.

Biden (April 17) Biden twice suggested during a visit to a Scranton, Penn., World War II memorial honoring his uncle, Ambrose Finnegan, that his body may have been eaten—by people, saying, “[H]e got shot down in New Guinea, and they never found the body because there used to be a lot of cannibals, for real, in that part of the New Guinea.” But the official military account of his death states that his Air Force plane crashed into the ocean off the coast of New Guinea and that neither his body nor the aircraft were recovered.

Biden (April 16) In an interview with a local CBS affiliate in Birmingham, Ala., Biden said, “I made it clear to the Israelis—don’t move on Haifa”—likely referring to Rafah, the southern Gaza Strip city where millions of Palestinians have taken refuge and the U.S. has warned Israel not to carry out a potentially devastating invasion. Haifa is a major port city in northern Israel.

Trump (March 25) Trump also claimed the “top person” at the NYSE was “very, very upset” and “mortified” that TMTG did not trade on the exchange, and claimed “he said ‘I’m losing business because of New York, because people don’t want to be in New York and they don’t want to go into the New York Stock Exchange,’” but, it is unclear who Trump is referring to, as both the exchange’s president, Lynn Martin, and board chair Sharon Bowen, are women.

Trump (March 25) At a press conference following a hearing for his hush money trial , Trump claimed that Trump Media & Technology Company, which owns his Truth Social network and went public after a deal was approved last week, decided not to trade on the New York Stock Exchange due to his ongoing court cases: “the New York Stock Exchange wants to have us badly, and I told them ’we can’t do the New York Stock Exchange, you’re treated too badly in New York,’” but Trump Media began trading on Tuesday on the Nasdaq stock exchange, which is also located in New York.

Trump (March 16): At a rally in Dayton, Ohio, Trump again mistakenly referred to former President Barack Obama, this time possibly confusing himself with Obama, though it remains unclear what he might have meant: “Joe Biden won against Barack Hussein Obama, has anyone ever heard of him?” Trump asked the crowd, before adding, “every swing state, Biden beat Obama but in every other state, he got killed.”

Trump (March 9): At a speech in Rome, Georgia, Trump claimed “the polls are rigged” while discussing his appeal to suburban housewives, before abruptly backtracking and saying “disregard that last statement, I love the polls so much.”

Biden (State of the Union speech, March 7): the president misidentified Laken Riley , the student murdered on the University of Georgia campus, calling her “Lanken,” while holding up a pin with her name on it.

Biden (State of the Union speech, March 7): the president briefly said the 2021 Capitol riot took place on July 6, before correcting himself and saying “January 6.”

Biden (State of the Union speech, March 7): after speaking about capping prescription drug prices, Biden made an off-the-cuff remark and invited Congress to fly with him and see lower prices for their medications in “Toronto, Berlin, Moscow—I mean, excuse me—well, even Moscow, probably.”

Trump (March 2): Trump seemed to confuse former President Barack Obama with President Joe Biden—alleging during a rally in Virginia Putin has “so little respect for Obama that he’s starting to throw around the nuclear word,” marking at least the eighth time in recent months it’s happened.

Trump (Feb. 24): In a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference, Trump appeared to endorse Biden, telling the audience he agrees with Russian President Vladimir Putin in preferring Biden over Trump.

Trump (Feb. 24): In the same CPAC speech, Trump appeared to forget the name of his wife, Melania Trump, responding to loud applause in the crowd by saying “Mercedes, that’s pretty good!”—though his campaign claimed it was a reference to Mercedes Schlapp, a political commentator and the wife of American Conservative Union (CPAC organizer) chair Matt Schlapp, who he mentioned later in the speech.

Biden (Feb. 8): Biden referred to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi as “the president of Mexico,” ironically during a press conference where he contested a scathing report by Special Counsel Robert Hur that depicted Biden as an “elderly man with a poor memory.”

Biden (Feb. 7): Biden referred to German Chancellor Angela Merkel as the late German leader Helmut Kohl twice while speaking at campaign events in New York, days after confusing French President Emmanuel Macron with his late predecessor Francois Mitterrand during a speech in Las Vegas.

Trump (Jan. 19): Trump confused his sole remaining opponent in the GOP primary race, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, with former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., during a New Hampshire campaign speech, telling the crowd “Nikki Haley was in charge of security” on Jan. 6, 2020, as he has repeatedly sought, without evidence, to allege that Pelosi rejected his offer to send more troops to the Capitol that day.

Biden (Nov. 20): The president mistakenly referred to Taylor Swift as “Britney [Spears]” while attempting a joke at the White House’s annual turkey pardoning ceremony, which took place on his 81st birthday.

Trump (Oct. 23): Trump confused the leaders of Turkey and Hungary in a New Hampshire campaign speech and botched a geographical reference, telling the crowd Hungary’s far-right Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is the leader of Turkey, and stating that Turkey shares a “front” with Russia (neither Hungary nor Turkey border Russia and Turkey’s president is Recep Tayyip Erdoğan).

Biden (Sept. 11): Biden falsely stated he was in New York on Sept. 12, 2001 while delivering an anniversary speech to troops in Alaska, claiming he surveyed the damage at Ground Zero the day after the attacks (then-Sen. Biden actually visited Ground Zero on Sept. 20, 2001).

Biden (June 27): Biden has repeatedly mixed up the wars in Ukraine and Iraq, including twice in 24 hours in June, after telling a crowd in Florida in November inflation was tied to “a war in Iraq,” then quickly corrected himself, saying “excuse me, the war in Ukraine,” a misstep that came moments before he wrongly stated his son Beau Biden, who served a year in Iraq in the Delaware Army National Guard, died there (Beau Biden died of brain cancer in the U.S. in 2015).

Key Background

Biden is the oldest president in history and Trump would be the second oldest if he were elected again in November. Though the two are just four years apart, polls consistently show Biden’s age is a far greater concern for voters than Trump’s, including a February Bloomberg/Morning Consult poll that found 82% of voters said Biden or both candidates were too old, compared to 47% who said the same about Trump or both candidates. The age concerns, exacerbated by the candidates’ various rhetorical missteps, have fueled calls for one, or both candidates, to drop out of the race, including a February op-ed and podcast by New York Times’ writer Ezra Klein.Trump—perhaps aware that criticizing Biden’s age could appear hypocritical—has repeatedly said Biden isn’t too old to be president, but is too “incompetent.” Biden, meanwhile, has sought to flip the script on concerns about his own age by highlighting Trump’s missteps on the campaign trail and making jokes about his own age. In an appearance on “Late Night With Seth Meyers” earlier this year, Biden took a jab at Trump for appearing to mix up Melania and Mercedes Schlapp, telling Meyers that Trump is “about as old as I am, but he can’t remember his wife’s name.”

Biden’s verbal missteps have been coupled with trips and falls throughout his tenure, often on the stairs of Air Force One, that have heightened concerns about his mental and physical fitness. In one particularly concerning incident, Biden took a hard fall on stage at an Air Force Academy graduation ceremony in Colorado in June last year, an incident his team blamed on a sandbag on stage.

What To Watch For

Biden and Trump are poised for a historic, and closely contested rematch, in November with polls showing Biden trailing Trump by less than half of a percentage point, according to Real Clear Politics’ polling average .

Experts have cautioned against reading into the candidates’ verbal slip-ups on the campaign trail, arguing they can’t necessarily be attributed to old age. "We make mistakes. The probability of slip-ups rises as we get older. That has nothing to do with judgment," S. Jay Olshansky, a professor in the School of Public Health at the University of Illinois at Chicago, told Reuters, adding “Someone commenting on Trump turning right when he should have turned left? Big deal. Tripping? Join the club. A misspoken word? It happens to all of us. None of us would survive a 24/7 camera."

Chief Critic

Biden, who has a penchant for gaffes dating back to his 36 years in the Senate, has argued his age is symbolic of his decades of experience, telling reporters in response to the Hur report “I know what the hell I am doing.” He released results of his annual physical exam earlier this year that found he is “a healthy, active, robust 81-year-old male, who remains fit” to serve as president, White House physician Dr. Kevin O’Connor wrote. The test did not include a cognitive exam, something White House Press Secretary Karine Jean Pierre argued wasn’t necessary, telling reporters “he passes a cognitive test every day,” referring to the rigors of the presidency. Trump, meanwhile, has claimed he purposely confuses Obama and Biden and Haley and Pelosi, claiming Haley and Pelosi are “interchangeable” and alluding to the unfounded right-wing conspiracy that Obama is secretly pulling the strings at the White House.

Surprising Fact

Trump and his allies have repeatedly called for Biden to undergo cognitive testing, but it’s unlikely any attempts to mandate the tests would pass legal muster, based on the qualifications laid out in the Constitution for holding the office of the presidency. Trump has said repeatedly he’s “aced” two cognitive exams, but he has not released the formal results of either report.