PRESIDENT KENNEDY VISITS THE ALOHA STATE
Honolulu, Hawaii (JFK+50) On June 9, 1963, President John F. Kennedy visited the Hawaiian Islands where he addressed the US Conference of Mayors at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Hotel. The subject of the President's speech was the role of federal and state government in the struggle for civil rights.
The President, who described the issue of race relations as a "national problem," called on the mayors to "look at (their) own unemployment, delinquency (and) housing indicators" with respect to race.
The President said he would work with the mayors "in every way we can," and that "the federal government, through legislative and executive action (can)...provide peaceful remedies."
In addition to JFK, POTUS who have visited Hawaii during their presidential years include William Howard Taft (1905), FDR (1944), LBJ (1966), Gerald R. Ford (1975), Ronald Reagan (1986), George H.W. Bush (1991), Bill Clinton (1995), George W. Bush (2003), Barack Obama and Donald Trump.
Jonathan Saupe writes...
"They come for a number of reasons: political discourse, military evaluation and planning, economic development and...vacation."
SOURCES
"Address to U.S. Conference of Mayors, Honolulu, Hawaii, 9 June, 1963," www.jfklibrary.org/
"From Taft to Trump, here's a look at presidents who have graced its shores," by Jonathan Saupe, February 19, 2018, www.hawaiinewsnow.com/
Hilton Hawaiian Village Hotel
Honolulu, Hawaii
