the potomac presidential yacht

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The Floating White House: A Brief History of the Presidential Yacht

By: Evan Andrews

Updated: October 31, 2023 | Original: August 18, 2017

Before there was Air Force One, there was the presidential yacht. Dating back to the 19th century, America’s chief executives utilized navy ships and other vessels for recreation and entertaining foreign dignitaries. Nearly a dozen different ships acted as the “Floating White House” between 1880 and 1977, when the last vessel was sold at auction. During that time, they were the scene of international diplomatic summits, congressional schmoozing and the occasional Potomac River pleasure cruise.

The executive yacht “served an important purpose in enabling Presidents to escape the claustrophobic tension of the White House,” former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger has written. It “provided a quiet sanctuary; it was handier than Camp David, easier for casual, informal discussions.”

Abraham Lincoln made use of a steamboat called the River Queen during the Civil War , but the first official presidential yachts date to the Gilded Age. Starting in 1880, America’s commanders in chief sailed aboard a series of Navy vessels including  USS Despatch , USS Dolphin and USS Sylph . In 1886, Despatc h famously ferried Grover Cleveland across New York Harbor for the dedication of the Statue of Liberty .

Presidential boating entered a new era in the early 1900s, when  USS Mayflower took over as the chief executive’s official yacht. Unlike earlier vessels, which were relatively austere in their design, Mayflower was a luxury craft previously owned by real estate millionaire Ogden Goelet. Measuring some 275 feet from stem to stern, it boasted a crew of over 150 and had a sumptuous interior that included a 30-person dining table and bathtubs made from Italian marble.

USS Mayflower is most famously associated with Theodore Roosevelt , who often used it and  USS Sylph for family vacation cruises along Long Island. A more official use came in August 1905, when Roosevelt hosted Japanese and Russian envoys aboard  Mayflower as part of his attempts to mediate peace talks in the Russo-Japanese War . He would later win the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in ending the conflict.

Mayflower served as a presidential plaything for over two decades. Woodrow Wilson is said to have wooed his second wife Edith Bolling Galt during romantic jaunts aboard the ship, and Calvin Coolidge reportedly loved the yacht so much he stationed a Navy chaplain aboard so that he could take Sunday morning cruises without being accused of skipping church. Nevertheless, the ship’s opulence proved to be a sticking point with critics of presidential excess. In 1929, with economic concerns on the rise, Herbert Hoover  finally had  Mayflower decommissioned.

Mayflower was the largest and stateliest of the presidential yachts, but it wasn’t the last. Hoover—a devoted fisherman—soon began making day trips on a wooden-hulled vessel called USS Sequoia , and he eventually grew so attached to it that he had it featured on his 1932 Christmas card. Franklin D. Roosevelt began his tenure with Sequoia , but later switched to USS Potomac, a 165-foot former Coast Guard cutter that included a special elevator to help the wheelchair-bound president move between decks.

FDR occasionally utilized the ship for official business—it carried him to a 1941 meeting with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill —but it was more frequently used for presidential leisure. In his book Sailor in the White House: The Seafaring Life of FDR , author Robert Cross writes that Potomac provided Roosevelt with “an instant means of extricating himself from the confines of Washington. Roosevelt could escape to the open water, where he could do some politicking and thinking, or relax and entertain on deck with friends and advisors, or simply throw a fishing line overboard and patiently wait for a bite.”

Recreation was also the main role of the presidential yachts during the administration of Harry Truman , who hosted floating poker games aboard Sequoia and the 243-foot USS Williamsburg. Dwight D. Eisenhower was more of a landlubber than his predecessors, but sea excursions became popular again in the 1960s, when Sequoia resumed its former role as the main presidential yacht. John F. Kennedy —who also utilized a yacht called Honey Fitz and a sailboat called Manitou —celebrated his final birthday with a party aboard Sequoia. Lyndon B. Johnson installed a liquor bar and enjoyed having movies projected on the main deck.

As the longest serving of the executive yachts, Sequoia played host to several chapters in presidential history. The 104-foot vessel was a more humble affair than many of the other yachts, but the seclusion of its elegant, mahogany-paneled saloon made it an ideal location for sensitive political discussions. Harry Truman talked nuclear arms policy aboard the ship with the prime ministers of Britain and Canada. In the mid-1960s, Lyndon Johnson used yacht trips to hash out Vietnam strategy and lobby legislators to support his Great Society domestic reforms. “The Sequoia was a rostrum from which he was trying to persuade congressmen and senators,” former Johnson aide Jack Valenti said.

Richard Nixon was undoubtedly the most the enthusiastic user of  Sequoia. The 37th president reportedly made as many as 100 trips aboard the yacht, including one in which he met with Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev to negotiate the S ALT I nuclear arms agreement . Near the end of his second term, Nixon also used  Sequoia as a hideout from the controversies of the Watergate scandal . During one final cruise in August 1974, the embattled president reportedly informed his family of his decision to resign before retiring to the ship’s saloon, quaffing a glass of scotch and playing God Bless America on the piano.

The age of the presidential yacht came to a close in 1977. That year, newly inaugurated Jimmy Carter ordered that  Sequoia be offloaded in a public sale. Carter later noted that he was disturbed by the yacht’s $250,000 annual upkeep, but he was also following through on a campaign promise to dispense with the extravagance of the presidency. “Despite its distinguished career, I feel that the Presidential yacht Sequoia is no longer needed,” he wrote in a memo to his Secretary of Defense.

Today, Sequoia and  Potomac are the only two former presidential yachts still in existence. Potomac went through several different owners after its presidential service—including Elvis Presley —and is now moored in Oakland, California. Sequoia, though currently inactive and in a state of disrepair, was once used as a floating museum and private charter boat, and still retains much of its presidential memorabilia. Both vessels are now registered as National Historic Landmarks.

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Uss potomac.

Photo by Chris Wood, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3997116

The USS Potomac was built in 1934 as the Coast Guard cutter Electra. The 165-foot vessel, weighing 376 gross tons and cruising at speeds of 10 to 13 knots, was commissioned as a U.S. Navy vessel in 1936. It was renamed the USS Potomac and served as Franklin Delano Roosevelt's presidential yacht until his death in 1945. As former Assistant Secretary of the Navy, FDR had a deep love of the sea and the Navy tradition. During the sultry summer days in Washington, D.C., he preferred to cruise on the USS Potomac rather than stay in the White House. He loved holding informal strategy sessions with close advisors and congressional leaders in the privacy and seclusion of the yacht. On Monday, August 4, 1941, four months before Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, FDR boarded the USS Potomac ostensibly for a fishing trip and a visit to Martha's Vineyard. The President, however, was secretly transferred to the heavy cruiser USS Augusta the next morning bound for Newfoundland where he would meet with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill--their first meeting as Heads of State. During this top-secret rendezvous, the two world leaders forged the principles of the Atlantic Charter, which formed the Allied partnership during World War II and what Roosevelt called the "United Nations," to plan the post-war peace. With the United States' direct involvement in the war at the end of 1941, the president's recreational use of the USS Potomac came to an end. During World War II the vessel was used primarily as a naval sonar research vessel. Special transducers and motor generator units for the sonar equipment were installed. After FDR's death in April 1945, the Potomac began a long and ignominious decline from its former role in world affairs. After many adventures and many owners--including Elvis Presley--she was seized in 1980 in San Francisco by U.S. Customs for her role as a front for drug smugglers. Towed to Treasure Island, the proud vessel's hull was pierced one night and she sank. Refloated by the Navy two weeks later, she was sold to the Port of Oakland for just $15,000. The Port of Oakland spearheaded a cooperative effort with organized labor, maritime corporations and dedicated volunteers to complete a $5 million restoration. Opened to the public in 1995, the Association for the Preservation of the Presidential Yacht Potomac now operates this National Historic Landmark as an active memorial to Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the momentous times through which he led our Nation. The USS Potomac a National Historic Landmark, is located at 540 Water St. near Jack London Square in Oakland. For further information visit the USS Potomac's  website . Discover more history and culture by visiting the World War II in San Francisco Bay Area travel itinerary.

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Last updated: September 7, 2020

All the President's Yachts: The Rise, Fall, and Resurrection of FDR's Floating White House

By Ben Marks — February 15th, 2017

It has come to our attention that our president lacks a yacht. That’s right: Donald J. Trump, who is so rich that our eyeballs would burn right out of their sockets if we so much as glimpsed his tax returns, is without a suitably luxurious means of floating on our nation’s great inland waterways or along its rocky shores. Our commander-in-chief reportedly owns a Boeing 757, a Cessna Citation X, a trio of helicopters, a pair of Rolls Royces, a Lamborghini Diablo, and a custom-made, gold-trimmed motorcycle from Orange County Choppers. But when it comes to watercraft, President Trump is up that proverbial creek without so much as a paddle.

“Roosevelt was a martini guy. A good cocktail was very important to him.”

Once upon a time, we the people supplied our presidents with a floating getaway. Leaders as politically dissimilar as Herbert Hoover and Jimmy Carter cruised aboard the 104-foot USS Sequoia , as did presidents Kennedy through Ford, while Truman and Eisenhower enjoyed the Williamsburg .

But the most famous and storied presidential yacht is the USS Potomac , which was a favorite escape for President Franklin D. Roosevelt from 1936 until his death in 1945. Since 1981, the Potomac has been berthed in Oakland, California. In 1995, it opened to the public for tours and excursions on San Francisco Bay.

Top: In 1939, President Roosevelt (at center, holding the arm of a naval officer for support) entertained King George VI of England (to FDR’s right) aboard the Potomac . Also present were Queen Elizabeth and Eleanor Roosevelt (both to the King’s right). (Image by Harris & Ewing, via Wikimedia Commons ) Above: The Potomac at its berth in Oakland, California. (Image by Christopher J. Wood via Wikimedia Commons )

Few know as much about the Potomac ’s history as Les Dropkin, a retired actuary who has been an active volunteer with the nonprofit Potomac Association for more than 20 years. “The ship and I are contemporaries,” Dropkin says. “Growing up, FDR was the only president I knew.”

For people of Dropkin’s generation, the Potomac is a tangible link to Roosevelt, widely considered the greatest U.S. president of the modern era. For many more, the Potomac is a symbol of a time when America was united at home and abroad, weathering the Great Depression and winning World War II , albeit at the expense of Japanese Americans who were incarcerated during the conflict.

Recently, Dropkin explained the history of the Potomac during a guided tour of the vessel, which goes into dry dock later this year for $350,000-worth of Coast Guard-mandated inspections and repairs . “The Potomac started its life as the Electra ,” Dropkin begins, “one of 18 cutters built for the Coast Guard between 1931 and 1934.” When the first of these cutters were launched, Dropkin says, Prohibition was still the law of the land, so the 165-foot-long vessels were used as patrol boats designed to intercept bootleggers, primarily close to shore and on rivers such as the Hudson and Potomac. “By 1934, when the Electra was built,” he continues, “Prohibition had ended, but there was still a lot of smuggling by those who wanted to avoid the taxes on liquor.”

President Franklin Roosevelt aboard the USS Potomac , 1936. (Image via Yachts International )

Ships like the Electra earned their keep by foiling such tax cheats, but the Electra did this virtuous work for only a few months before it was selected, in 1935, to be President Roosevelt’s official yacht. “During the first years of his administration,” Dropkin says, “Roosevelt used a Department of Commerce vessel called the Sequoia as his presidential yacht.” President Hoover had sailed on the Sequoia , too, but only after Roosevelt’s election, during the final months of 1932. Upon taking office, Roosevelt, who enjoyed being on the water more than his predecessor, took to the Sequoia whenever his busy schedule would allow.

Hoover and Roosevelt were not the first presidents to enjoy such treatment. According to Dropkin, the idea of a presidential yacht took shape in the latter part of the 19th century. “As commander-in-chief,” Dropkin says, “a president can board any naval vessel he chooses. But in the 19th century, the idea evolved of perhaps having a naval vessel available for use by high government officials. Gradually, that narrowed to a vessel specifically for the president.”

The Sequoia , though, was not a perfect yacht for a head of state. “The Sequoia was only 104 feet long,” Dropkin explains. That meant the president’s Secret Service detail had to follow behind in a separate ship. At 165 feet in length, the Electra , when converted, would have room for two cabins for the Secret Service.

Roosevelt’s chief of staff, Missy LeHand, conferring with the president aboard the Potomac in 1939. (Image via the National Register of Historic Places )

Fire was another concern. “The Sequoia was a wood-hulled vessel—those in charge of Roosevelt’s safety wanted a ship made out of steel. So the president tasked his naval aide with the mission of finding a replacement vessel. Working with the Navy Department, the aide and his staff found four ships in the government’s fleet that might serve Roosevelt’s purposes. A list was presented to FDR and he selected the Electra , renaming it the Potomac .”

Using an existing Coast Guard cutter made economic sense—the Depression was no time for extravagance, even for a new president. But there was another reason why Roosevelt got the Potomac with its steel hull and room for onboard Secret Service officers. A polio victim since 1921, the 53-year-old president required a wheelchair to get around, so if a fire broke out on the short-staffed Sequoia, Roosevelt’s life would almost certainly be in danger.

Once the ship was selected, work began almost immediately to make the Potomac fit for a president. Some of these changes would have served any commander-in-chief, disabled or not. “From about the midships passageway forward,” Dropkin tells me as we stand on the dock in Oakland’s Jack London Square, “she looks very much as she did when she was a Coast Guard cutter. But from the midships passageway on back, that’s where the real changes occurred, the things that made her into the presidential yacht.”

The Potomac ‘s rear smokestack was converted into an elevator so the wheelchair-bound president could move freely between the ship’s two main decks.

The biggest change was to install a spacious, shaded aft deck, where Roosevelt could work or entertain while enjoying river or ocean breezes. “When the ship was a Coast Guard cutter, this deck did not exist,” Dropkin says, as we walk across its teak surface, “but it was a favorite area of the president.” That’s probably because the seating on the deck was designed with the wheelchair-bound Roosevelt in mind. Dropkin points to an upholstered settee that follows the curve of the ship’s stern. “It’s about 4 feet deep in the middle,” he says, “to support the president’s legs, something for him to stretch out on. You can almost imagine him sitting there, drink in hand.

“Roosevelt was a martini guy,” Dropkin continues. “A good cocktail was very important to him. He had started having cocktail hour when he was governor of New York, and brought the practice with him to the White House. His wife, Eleanor, wasn’t crazy about that, but they were different people.”

Other changes to the Electra that were more particular to Roosevelt included the removal of the floor coamings designed to contain water that might be sloshing on deck. For example, the low barrier was removed between the main dining room and the presidential bedroom, so that Roosevelt could get himself between the two spaces in his wheelchair. Even more dramatic was the conversion of one of the ship’s two smokestacks into an elevator, allowing the president to move freely between to ship’s two main decks. “An elevator was built into what had been the rear smokestack,” Dropkin says. “It’s an electric elevator now, but when the president used it, it was literally just a platform roped to a pulley. He would pull himself up, or let himself down, arm over arm. Roosevelt was very strong, and always wanted to do things for himself.”

In 1964, Elvis Presley, seen here with entertainer Danny Thomas, purchased the Potomac and donated it to Saint Jude’s Hospital, which promptly sold it. (Image via the Potomac Association )

Often the Potomac was treated as a sort of floating White House. In August 1941, it even ferried the president part of the way to a secret meeting with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill prior to the U.S. involvement in World War II. However, Dropkin says the most typical use of the ship by FDR was for weekend fishing cruises. “They’d board at the Washington, D.C., Navy Yard on, say, Saturday morning and sail down the Potomac River into Chesapeake Bay. Then, they’d find a nice cove, anchor, and spend the weekend fishing.”

Along for the ride was what Dropkin characterizes as “a very, very large crew. There were 42 enlisted men, 12 stewards, and three officers,” he says. “If you count up the number of available bunks and divide, you’ll see it doesn’t add up. So they had what are called hot bunks, to put it in naval terms. When one sailor was on duty, another would sleep. Basically, they’d take turns.”

If the Potomac was initially known for its famous, presidential passenger, after FDR’s death, in 1945, it would eventually become infamous. From 1946 until 1960, the ship was used by the Maryland Tidewater Fisheries Commission, and occasionally by that state’s governor. After that, though, it would begin a slow decline. In 1960, the Potomac was sold and pressed into service as a ferry in the Caribbean, until a different entrepreneur got the bright idea of sailing the ship through the Panama Canal to show her off at the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair. The aging vessel got as far as Southern California, where it languished until 1964, when it was purchased by Elvis Presley at an auction. Apparently, The King shelled out the $55,000 hammer price because he didn’t like the idea of seeing FDR’s yacht chopped into pieces for scrap, but never really want to own the Potomac , so he promptly donated the ship to the Saint Jude Hospital of Memphis, which just as promptly sold it to the first in a series of dreamers and schemers.

In 1981, the Potomac sank in 35 feet of water while docked at the Treasure Island Naval Base in San Francisco Bay. (Image by U.S. Customs, via the Potomac Association )

By August of 1980, the Potomac would be towed for repairs to Pier 26 in San Francisco, where, the following month, it was seized by U.S. Customs and the Drug Enforcement Agency. Although drugs were never found aboard the Potomac , a ship owned by the same owner and anchored alongside the Potomac was loaded with contraband. According to Dropkin’s history of this dark moment in the Potomac ’s past, a Southern California drug ring had been using the Potomac ’s good name, and a fake charity called “The Crippled Children’s Society,” as a front. That October, the Potomac was towed again, this time to the nearby Treasure Island Naval Base in San Francisco Bay where, the following March, its hull was punctured by broken pilings, causing it to sink in 35 feet of water.

The story might have ended there, but once the ship was raised and the hole in its hull was patched, the Potomac was purchased in April of 1981 at yet another auction. This time, the new owner was the Port of Oakland, whose winning bid of $15,000 was also the only bid. But the port’s then-executive director, Walter Abernathy, saw the Potomac as an opportunity for the community and historians alike. Shortly after taking possession of the ship, the port authorized “$400,000 in seed money to restore the ship to its appearance during the Roosevelt era and operate it as a historical and educational resource.” By 1983, the Potomac Association had incorporated to manage the ship’s upkeep and programs, and elected FDR’s oldest son, James, as its chairman. Finally, in 1985, a sitting president, Ronald Reagan, got involved, personally recommending a $2.5 million grant for the ship’s restoration. The grant was approved and matched, and in 1990, the Potomac was designated a National Historical Landmark .

For more than two decades, Les Dropkin has been a tireless volunteer for the Potomac Association .

As we walk through the Potomac , Dropkin explains the limits of a restoration project for a vessel that had seen decades of neglect before sinking. “There’s very little that’s original from the FDR era on the ship today,” he says. “Essentially, everything you see is a re-creation.”

In an effort to get the details right, the restorers carefully studied photographs of the ship during its FDR days, from the furniture to the draperies. And because there were records of the ship’s original construction and subsequent retrofit for the president, the Potomac Association was able to replicate its construction techniques. “When the Electra was built as a Coast Guard cutter, it was a riveted ship,” Dropkin says. “But when it was converted to become the presidential yacht, they had started to use welding. In the restoration, we maintained the ratios—what was welded was re-welded, where there had been rivets we used rivets. A very major concern in the restoration was to make it historically accurate to the fullest extent we could.”

Today, such attention to detail, as well as the $350,000 needed to pay for the Potomac ’s upcoming drydocking, might seem like a luxury the country can’t afford in the face of multi-trillion-dollar deficits. But is $350,000 really all that much to honor the memory of one of our nation’s greatest presidents? After all, we are spending about half that amount every single day to protect our current president’s latest wife, who has chosen not to live in the White House with her husband, at least until their 10-year-old son finishes the school year. Naturally, most parents will be sympathetic with that decision, if not the expense. By comparison, $350,000 to help us remember the man who told a fearful nation that the only thing it had to fear was fear itself, and then proceeded to lead the fight against Adolf Hitler, seems like a rather good deal.

( If you would like to help keep FDR’s yacht shipshape, visit the Potomac Association )

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3 comments so far

At the very end of an otherwise entertaining article, Ben just couldn’t resist taking a cheap shot at the very charming and elegant Mrs. Trump.

As Mr. Marks illustrates, Trump Derangement Syndrome is a horrible disease.

Mr. Marks’ comment about federal expenditures is very timely and appropriate. At a time when we are spending about a million dollars a day to cover the new president’s own travel and family security expenses (including three golfing vacations during his first month in office), 8 hours’ worth of that security and travel to help restore the Potomac, a National Historic Landmark, seems well justified. A very nice article.

Mr Dodsworth, the charming and elegant Mrs Trump is costing the city of New York somewhat around $1,ooo,ooo a DAY for police coverage for each day she chooses to reside not in the White House but at Trump Tower. That is over and above the expense for Secret Service coverage for EIGHTEEN Trump family members. Mr Mark’s innocuous comment was hardly a cheap shot, but perhaps you would enjoy some dip for the chip on your shoulder.

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The Floating White House

Copyright © May 21, 2015 White House Historical Association. All rights reserved under international copyright conventions. No part of this article may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Requests for reprint permissions should be addressed to [email protected]

• Lawrence L. Knutson Author & Historian

Presidential yachts sail now on a sea of memories, long sleek ships that were once symbols of the presidency, tools of diplomacy, centers of hospitality, and breezy salt-air retreats from the steamy heat of a Washington summer. But for nearly a century, presidents looking for an easy escape from the strains and tensions of the White House found one on the deck of a government yacht.

Beginning with USS Despatch in 1880, a succession of yachts awaited the pleasure of every commander in chief from Rutherford B. Hayes to Gerald R. Ford. The roster includes Dolphin, Sylph, Mayflower, Potomac, Sequoia, Williamsburg, Honey Fitz , and the only sailboat on the list, John F. Kennedy’s 62-foot Manitou , an ocean racer on loan from the Coast Guard.

The presidential yacht USS Sylph , c. 1910-1915.

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Their era ended in 1977 when President Jimmy Carter , seeking to end what he called the “imperial presidency,” sold the last of them, USS Sequoia , a yacht used by every president since Franklin Roosevelt.

The presidential yacht, USS Sequoia, in a 2009 image taken by the U.S. Navy.

Once on board, American chief executives cruised from Maine to the Caribbean, explored the Potomac and Chesapeake Bay, reviewed the fleet, received royalty, conferred with allies, thought through future plans—or just loafed, played poker, or went fishing.

Theodore Roosevelt used the 273-foot Mayflower as an instrument of personal diplomacy in the 1905 negotiations that ended the Russo-Japanese War and earned him the Nobel Peace Prize.

Woodrow Wilson, a White House widower, courted Edith Bolling Galt aboard Mayflower . During World War I, Wilson used the yacht to escape “people and their intolerable excitements and demands.”

Presidential yacht USS Mayflower , pictured in 1909.

In the months before the United States entered World War II, Franklin Roosevelt deployed Potomac in a nautical shell game to cloak a secret rendezvous at sea with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill.

Harry S. Truman found Williamsburg a pleasant setting for an afternoon nap or a convivial game of poker, but was far less happy when she bucked and pitched in the open ocean . Williamsburg supported Truman’s 11 vacations at Key West, Florida, serving as a communications center and providing cabins for the president’s overnight guests.

While on the way to Bermuda, President Harry S. Truman returns to the USS Williamsburg after a morning swim, August 1946.

Under siege during the Watergate scandal in the late summer of 1974, Richard M. Nixon boarded the Sequoia , cruised on the Potomac and pondered resigning rather than face impeachment. But the seclusion he sought proved an illusion. “When we passed under the bridges, reporters and photographers would suddenly surge forward hanging perilously over the railings, trying to get a closer glimpse or a closer picture,” Nixon recalled.

“We were the subject of a deathwatch,” his daughter Julie concluded. “Being on the Sequoia was like bobbing along in a glass bottle.”

John F. Kennedy’s hours on the water were far less stressful. Here’s an account from Kennedy aide Theodore Sorensen:

“On board either the family or the presidential cruiser the president read history or biography or fiction, chatted with family and friends, waved at passing boats, watched local sailing races and enjoyed the distance between himself and the Secret Service” who trailed him on an escort vessel.

President John F. Kennedy smokes a cigar and reads a newspaper aboard the presidential yacht Honey Fitz in August 1963.

Grandest of them all, Mayflower was manned by eight officers and 166 men, including musicians. Its reception rooms were paneled in white and gold. The dining table sat thirty.

William Howard Taft ’s wife, Helen, verged on the poetic as she described the yacht’s cruise along the Maine coast in the summer of 1910. In a memoir she drew a word portrait of “the Mayflower steaming among the crags and rocks of the broken, picturesque coast, or lying at anchor in some quiet harbor with only the soft water sounds to break the stillness.”

“I know of no other way for (a president) to get short intervals of rest than by boarding the presidential yacht and steaming away out of the reach of crowds,” she said in a memoir. " Mayflower ," she said, would work well for any American president, “if he happens to be a good sailor.”

Years later, President Calvin Coolidge, decidedly queasy after a long afternoon in rolling seas reviewing passing battleships, sank, grim-lipped, into a Mayflower deck chair and managed a final salute, the fingers of his right hand touching his favorite yachting cap. A photographer chose that moment to snap a picture.

During their visits home from boarding school to the White House, the Coolidge boys joined their parents for sailing trips on the Mayflower . From left to right: Calvin Coolidge, Jr., First Lady Grace Coolidge, President Calvin Coolidge and John Coolidge on board the Mayflower , in September 1923.

In March 1941, Franklin Roosevelt leaned into a radio microphone on board Potomac after a cruise in Florida’s Gulf Stream. He told his audience that a short escape to salt water offered “a chance for a bit of sunshine or a wetted line, or a biography or a detective story or a nap after lunch.”

But above all, he said, a cruise out of sight of land, provides a president an important opportunity “for thinking things through,” for sifting through all that lies ahead and deciding what is important and what is not.

President Franklin Roosevelt with U.S. Naval Academy Superintendent Admiral Foote Sellers aboard the yacht USS Sequoia in 1935.

This was originally published on May 21, 2015

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The USS Potomac served as FDR’s floating White House during World War II.

This article appears in: September 2017

By Eric Niderost

Washington, D.C., is not known for its mild climate, but the summer of 1941 seemed particularly enervating. The city was enveloped in a fierce humid heat that tended to suck the air out of one’s lungs even as it drenched one’s body in perspiration. The political climate matched the torrid temperatures. Most of the world was at war, and the United States had

so far managed to stay out of the spreading conflict. Many Americans were isolationists, ardently wishing to avoid war and taking comfort in the fact that the nation was seemingly protected by the vastness of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. A formal isolationist movement known as the America First Committee was created in the autumn of 1940 and eventually boasted more than 800,000 members nationwide.

Still, the news from abroad was troubling. Nazi Germany controlled most of the European continent and in June had launched a massive offensive against Soviet Russia. It was a titanic struggle, and in the late summer of 1941 the Germans were making such progress it seemed only a matter of time before the Russians would succumb to Adolf Hitler’s war machine. In the Far East the news was just as grim. Japan was still attempting to subdue China and was already casting covetous eyes on the weakly held European colonies of Southeast Asia.

In March 1941 U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt persuaded Congress to pass the Lend-Lease Act, pledging material support, short of going to war, to any country considered vital to the defense of the United States. The chief beneficiary was Great Britain, which was under the dynamic and charismatic leadership of Prime Minister Winston S. Churchill. But Roosevelt repeatedly assured the American public that the United States was not going to war and that measures like Lend-Lease were purely defensive in nature.

While Washington still suffered under the blistering heat, Roosevelt’s Press Secretary, Stephen Early, announced that the president would soon go on a cruise aboard the Potomac. This was not unexpected because Roosevelt had been a virtual White House recluse in recent months. Apart from a brief weekend at his country estate at Hyde Park in early June, and a Potomac cruise in March, the president stayed close to his desk at the White House.

Just the mere thought of a cruise seemed to invigorate the president, and when he held a cabinet meeting on August 2 he was in his usual ebullient mood. “Franklin Roosevelt patted his perspiring forehead and glanced at his cluttered desk,” wrote a Time magazine reporter. “There was … the old optimistic cast in his eye.” The reporter’s observation was not hyperbole. Roosevelt loved the sea and was an avid sailor from his youth.

The wind-dimpled Atlantic waters were like a tonic and the sea air, which was so unlike the stifling, humid hothouse atmosphere of the nation’s capital, helped soothe both his chronic sinus problems and his frame of mind. Once aboard the Potomac, Roosevelt could relax, fish, and even devote a few hours to his beloved stamp collection.

Late Sunday morning, August 3, Roosevelt left the White House and was driven to Union Station to board a special train to New London, Connecticut, where the Potomac was waiting. He had a small entourage with him, a party that included his personal physician U.S. Admiral Ross T. McIntire and his aides.

The Potomac, designed as a recreational vessel for the nation’s hard-working chief executive, was entering a new phase of its maritime career. The ship would play a major role in an elaborate deception designed to throw a veil of secrecy around a first-time summit meeting between Roosevelt and Churchill. With German submarines, which Roosevelt’s described as “those rattlesnakes of the Atlantic,” ever on the prowl, this cloak-and-dagger approach was necessary.

When Franklin Roosevelt took office in 1933 the presidential yacht was the Sequoia, a 104-foot vessel built in 1925. Sequoia’s biggest drawback was that it was made of wood. Roosevelt had been a paraplegic since 1921, and he feared being trapped in a fire. An all-steel ship seemed safer to him, so in 1936 the Coast Guard cutter Electra was commissioned a U.S. Navy vessel and renamed Potomac. Extensively renovated, it was ready for service by 1936.

Potomac was much larger than its predecessor. The vessel was 165 feet long and displaced 416 gross tons. It could also reach cruising speeds of 10 to 13 knots and had a crew of 54 men. It required no fewer than a dozen stewards to cater to the needs of the president and his guests.

The ship’s first real foray into the world of diplomacy occurred when King George VI and Queen Elizabeth came to Washington in June 1939. It was the first time reigning British monarchs had ever visited the United States, and one of the highlights of the tour was a short trip aboard the Potomac to George Washington’s home at Mount Vernon.

Roosevelt grew to love the Potomac and the freedom it gave him to escape the cares of Washington. Not that it was all fun and games; he loved informal talks with congressional leaders and brainstorming strategy sessions with close advisers. Yet when all was said and done Roosevelt usually kept his own counsel. His charm and vibrant wit, while genuine, also were a smokescreen that hid his somewhat enigmatic personality from others.

Churchill was grateful for American aid but wanted more. He also hoped that eventually the United States would join the Allied cause, but he realized this was more than Roosevelt could deliver, at least at that time. For his part, Roosevelt had no desire for war, but he knew he had to slowly but surely prepare the American people for the trials they would almost certainly face in the near future. Roosevelt might have lost the use of his legs, but he was a skilled tightrope walker in the political arena.

Certainly there was a growing need for Anglo-American cooperation in the face of fascist aggression. Roosevelt also mulled the future of Europe once the Nazi scourge had been eliminated from the world. Plans slowly developed for Roosevelt and Churchill to meet to discuss these issues. Each man would bring along military and governmental officials to draw up plans for further Anglo-American cooperation.

The two leaders planned to meet at Argentia on Newfoundland Island in Canada. While Roosevelt and Churchill got to know each other and discussed world affairs, their respective senior diplomatic and military personnel would huddle and draw up plans, laying the groundwork for vital Anglo-American cooperation on air, land, and sea.

The presidential party reached New London at 8:15 pm, the train backing up to within about 100 yards of the waiting Potomac. But before Roosevelt could board all the necessary honors had to be observed. There was a brief 10-minute ceremony with Connecticut Governor Robert A. Hurley and the New London submarine base commander. Once all the formalities were out of the way, the president boarded the ship as a bosun’s pipe squealed a welcoming acknowledgement of his presence.

The president’s staff informed the press corps that reporters would not be allowed on the cruise. A few might be permitted to tag along in the early stages, but once the voyage got underway journalists would be excluded. Potomac would have an escort vessel, the Coast Guard cutter Calypso, but unfortunately there was not enough room to accommodate the press.

“From the time the president boards the Potomac until the time he returns to shore the movement of the ship will be a confidential naval operation under a tight veil of secrecy,” said Hurley. Few if any reporters were suspicious; after all, even though America was still neutral one never knew what Hitler had up his sleeve. U-boats prowling along the Atlantic seaboard posed a real threat to U.S. national security.

The first 24 hours of the cruise were routine and roused no suspicion among the press corps. After a leisurely journey up the coast, Potomac dropped anchor for the night at Harbor of Refuge in Point Judith, Rhode Island. The next morning the ship continued on to South Dartmouth, Massachusetts, where Roosevelt was scheduled to entertain some special guests. Ever the gallant type, the president personally drove a Chris-Craft speedboat to pick them up.

The guests were Crown Princess Martha of Norway, her brother Prince Karl of Sweden, and Martha’s two young children, Ragnhild and Astrid. By all accounts the brown-eyed, 40-year-old princess was tall, elegant, and strikingly handsome. She was, in the words of a breathless admirer, “exactly as a princess should look.”

Roosevelt loved to flirt with the ladies, and nothing put him in a better mood than to have feminine companionship, especially with an old friend like Martha. The president insisted that he personally take the royals on a tour of Potomac. Although he genuinely enjoyed playing host, there was a method to this seemingly frivolous madness. Roosevelt knew, and subsequent events bore this out, that the newspapers would take the bait and prominently feature the royal visitors in their latest editions. It made colorful copy, and it also obscured the real purpose of the cruise.

The Potomac was roughly divided amidships. The forward half included the radio room, galley, guest bedrooms, ship’s bridge, and quarters for the officers and crew. The aft section was truly the “White House” section of the vessel, for it included a saloon, the president’s cabin, and the fantail.

The saloon was essentially the dining room, although to landlubbers the name conjures images of a bar in the Old West. But in ship parlance saloon means a large public area. Tastefully decorated but not ostentatious, the room featured green curtains and framed nautical prints, the latter revealing Roosevelt’s deep love of the sea.

Roosevelt’s guided tour probably did not include his personal cabin. The cabin, faithfully restored when Potomac became a museum ship, is surprisingly small for such an important figure. A modest bed, small dresser, and mirror hover over a miniscule sink. But rank does have its privileges, even in such a tiny cabin. A small side door opens to reveal a flush toilet and a steel sitz tub.

Mobility was always a problem, especially if Roosevelt wanted to go to the ship’s upper deck to do a little fishing off the fantail. The issue was solved when the aft smoke stack, which apparently was not essential for the ship’s operation, was converted into a hidden elevator. Its interior space is about three feet by four, which was just about enough space for his wheelchair. The elevator was raised and lowered by means of a manual rope and pulley system, which again posed no problem for a man of Roosevelt’s muscular build.

The fantail, located on the lower deck of the ship’s stern, was probably Roosevelt’s favorite part of the presidential yacht. It was a place designed for both business and pleasure. The president could receive reports, discuss plans, or simply enjoy a cocktail with friends. The fantail’s most notable feature is a semicircular settee. Roosevelt liked to sit in the center of the settee and hold court, so to speak.

Security was always a factor, especially as the nation approached war. The fantail was covered in bulletproof glass, and after 1940 at least one machine gun was mounted when the president was aboard.

The covert phase of the voyage began after Potomac left South Dartmouth. Potomac quietly and secretly made a rendezvous with the heavy cruiser Augusta, flagship of the Atlantic Fleet, just off Martha’s Vineyard. Augusta was accompanied by the heavy cruiser Tuscaloosa and five destroyers of Destroyer Division 17, Madison, Moffett, Sampson, Winslow, and McDougal.

It was a formidable array of naval power, but the Potomac, which was Lilliputian compared to the other great vessels, still had a vital role to play. After Roosevelt was transferred to the Augusta, Potomac continued to sail the coast as if he were aboard and the fishing trip was in full swing.

Everything possible was done to lull people’s suspicions; not one detail was overlooked. The presidential ensign still flew proudly on the Potomac’s flagstaff, a flag that only was raised when Roosevelt was aboard. When the Potomac entered the 17-mile Cape Cod Canal, the subterfuge went into full swing. Because the canal allowed people to see the ship more closely, an actor of roughly the same facial features and build played Roosevelt to the unsuspecting crowds.

The substitute wore much the same clothes, waving to enthusiastic onlookers while smoking a cigarette in a holder that jutted from his mouth at a 45-degree angle. Everyone was taken in. Many people must have been delighted to have seen the president, not knowing he was completely counterfeit.

The deception was not only visual. Dispatches from Potomac painted an idyllic picture of a president at play, free from cares. “After a night of restful sleep the President is continuing his cruise,” read one note. “He is … enjoying the sea air from the fantail.”

But no secret is really safe in Washington, and rumors began circulating that Roosevelt just might be meeting Churchill. The rumors were substantial enough that the New York Times made note of them. The newspaper printed the speculation under the banner headline: “Meeting of Churchill and Roosevelt on President’s Cruise Reported.”

Rumors might fly, but Potomac’s deceptive cruise continued without interruption. While the presidential yacht continued playing charades, Roosevelt met Churchill and engaged in three days of substantial talks from August 9 to 12. By August 14, the conference over, and the participants, one of whom was Churchill, safe, it was decided to inform the press of the diplomatic progress.

The New York Times banner headline said it all: “Roosevelt, Churchill Draft Peace Aims. Pledging Destruction of Nazi Tyranny; Joint Steps Believed Chartered at Parlay.” Eventually Roosevelt transferred back to the Potomac and on August 16 held a press conference in the yacht’s saloon. Roosevelt affably fended off questions that asked too many details but did not mind giving his impressions of Churchill. Potomac’s smokescreen mission was successfully concluded.

Potomac’s role as a kind of floating cover story was not yet over. On Veteran’s Day, November 11, 1943, Roosevelt visited the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery. He was accompanied by the secretary of war and the U.S. Navy secretary, but no other dignitaries. Perhaps more unusual was the fact that Roosevelt, who usually could be counted on to give a memorable word or two, gave no speech and did not speak to the press. It was to be his last public appearance in Washington for several weeks.

Roosevelt left the White House that very evening, accompanied by a small entourage that included adviser Harry Hopkins and perhaps a couple of other guests. The presidential party motored to Quantico, Virginia, where Potomac was waiting. On the morning of November 12, Potomac rendezvoused with the battleship Iowa, and the president was transferred to the larger ship. A special ramp connected Potomac and Iowa, allowing Roosevelt to remain in his wheelchair when he came aboard.

Roosevelt was beginning a 7,000-mile odyssey that would eventually take him to Teheran, Iran. The Teheran Conference reunited him with Churchill and brought in a third player, Soviet dictator Josef Stalin. The so-called Big Three discussed many issues, including the opening of a second front against Germany.

Once again, Potomac played its role to perfection. Its radio room also posted routine, almost laconic trivialities about good fishing and the like. Once again, no one suspected anything was wrong. Potomac’s second foray into diplomatic subterfuge was also a success.

When Franklin Roosevelt died in April 1945, Potomac’s life as a presidential yacht was at an end. After suffering many ordeals and coming close to being scrapped, Potomac was reborn as a museum ship dedicated to the 32nd U.S. president. It can be visited at Jack London Square in Oakland, California.

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What To Know Of Visiting The Presidential Yacht USS Potomac (FDR's Floating White House)

The USS Potomac is a unique museum ship in the USA open to the public in the San Fransico Bay Area.

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What to know of the coast guard cutter-turned presidential yacht the uss potomac, presidential & subsequent history of the uss potomac, what to know about visiting the uss potomac today.

Before the jet age, the heads of state would need to sail around the world, and countries had royal and presidential yachts to ferry their leaders around the world. The USS Potomac was Franklin D. Roosevelt's presidential yacht from 1936 to when he died in 1945, and today, it is preserved as a museum open to the public.

It is now only one of two American presidential yachts still existing (the other is the USS Sequoia ). The USS Potomac is one of many excellent Naval museum ships to explore around the country from tug boats to aircraft carriers . While the many battleship museums in the country are fascinating, there are plenty of more vessels (such as the USS Potomac ) to explore.

The USS Potomac was built in 1934 for the Coast Guard as the USCGC Electra . She was a cutter for the Coast Guard but only had a short career until she was commissioned into the Navy as the presidential yacht.

• Built: 1934
• Original Name: USCGC Electra (US Coast Guard)
• Length: 165 feet

She was built by the Manitowoc Shipbuilding Company in Manitowoc, Wisconsin. She was meant to be a submarine chaser and was used for anti-bootlegging operations.

She was selected to be the new presidential yacht after the wooden USS Sequoia was deemed a fire hazard.

Related: HMS Belfast: What To Know Of The Warship Museum In The Heart Of London

FDR was a former Assistant Secretary of the Navy, and he held a deep love of the sea and America's naval tradition. He would cruise on the USS Potomac on sultry summer days rather than stay in the White House. He would often hold meetings with his advisors on board the yacht.

• Served: 1936 to 1945 (as Presidential Yacht)

After the entry of the United States into World War Two, recreational presidential use of the USS Potomac ended, and she was mostly used as a naval sonar research vessel (special sonar equipment was installed on her). She wasn't suited for presidential use in wartime conditions (FDR sailed on a heavy cruiser, the USS Augusta , to hold a meeting with his British counterpart, Winston Churchill).

After FDR died in 1945, Truman acquired a new Presidential yacht. Unlike FDR, Truman was not a sailor and did not share his predecessor's love of sailing.

The USS Potomac was returned to the US Coast Guard but then began a long ignominious decline. She had an interesting series of adventures - even being purchased by none other than Elvis Presley, the King of Rock and Roll. In 1980, she was seized by the U.S. Customs for her role as part of a front for drug smugglers. Later, she sank at Treasure Island but was refloated by the Navy a couple of weeks later.

She was then sold to the Port of Oakland for only $15,000 and then extensively restored and opened to the public in 1995.

Related: The HMS Warrior Was Once The Largest, Fastest, & Most Powerful Royal Navy Ship (& Today She Is A Museum)

Today, the USS Potomac is preserved as an active memorial to Franklin D. Roosevelt in Oakland, California. She is the only presidential yacht open to the public and is a National Historic Landmark.

• Location: 540 Water Street, Oakland
• Opening Hours: 9.00 am to 12.00 pm (Monday to Friday)

The USS Potomac Association office and the visitor center are open during weekdays in the morning. Take the time to watch the 15-minute informative video at the Visitor Center before boarding the Potomac.

The USS Potomac also offers cruises in the San Francisco Bay. On these cruises, visitors can not only learn about San Francisco Bay but also the history of the USS Potomac and FDR and his impact on the development of the Bay.

The public cruises on the USS Potomac are offered from April to Veterans Day in November. There are many cruise tours available ( see their website for the full selection of cruises).

Three-Hour Cruise With Lunch:

• Cost: $95 (Adults)
• Duration: Three Hours
• Includes: Box Lunch & Tea and Coffee

As the USS Potomac is a historically preserved vessel, it is not fully accessible - it has only some limited access for the mobility impaired (the main deck).

There are so many excellent naval ship museums to explore around the country in Pennsylvania; see the USS Olympia - the oldest remaining steel ship afloat that played a central role in winning the Philippines for the United States. The oldest museum ship in the country is the venerable USS Constitution - aka Old Ironsides .

Another great ship to explore in California is the Queen Mary - one of the few ocean liners still afloat .

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All aboard the USS Potomac, a piece of history docked in Oakland’s Jack London Square

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In November 2021, Ford Roosevelt was casually reading through the USS Potomac Association’s newsletter when something caught his eye. The organization was looking for a new executive director, and the job listing called for someone with experience leading nonprofits. 

Roosevelt, who was living in Los Angeles at the time, had been doing just that for Project GRAD LA, a nonprofit that helped students in under-resourced communities complete their high school education and go to college. In 2020, during the height of the pandemic, the nonprofit closed due to dwindling resources. 

During his two decades running the nonprofit, Roosevelt estimates that over 60,000 students from the San Fernando Valley benefited from its services. Its shuttering almost forced him into early retirement—until he read the job listing in the newsletter.

As one of the grandsons of former President of the United States Franklin D. Roosevelt , he had more than a passing interest in the USS Potomac Association. The nonprofit is tasked with preserving the USS Potomac —a 165-foot vessel that served as FDR’s presidential yacht until his death in 1945. The boat is currently docked in the harbor at Jack London Square. The USS Potomac was designated an Oakland Landmark on April 23, 1985, and is also on the National Register of Historic Places. 

Without hesitation, Roosevelt applied. He took over as executive director remotely in March 2022, before moving to the Bay Area and June.

During its tenure as the presidential yacht, the USS Potomac served a dual purpose for President Roosevelt, who used it for pleasure cruises and as a deception tactic : It allowed him to attend clandestine meetings with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill under the guise of spending time enjoying a fishing exhibition. One of these secret meetings led to the creation of the Atlantic Charter . 

“I like to think of the story of the ship operating at a time when the government really did work for the citizens of the country,” Roosevelt said. “I think that if this [ship] played a role in that, keeping him relaxed and calm in very trying times, it’s great.” 

After President Roosevelt’s death, the USS Potomac had a number of different owners, including Elvis Presley, who bought the ship in 1964 at an auction for $55,000 . Elvis later donated it to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. The hospital eventually sold it also, and it continued to change hands until it was seized in 1980 in San Francisco by U.S. Customs agents after it was discovered that the ship had been used as a front for drug smugglers . It was then towed to Treasure Island, where someone pierced its hull, causing it to sink. Two weeks later, the vessel was pulled from underwater and sold to the Port of Oakland for $15,000.

One of President Roosevelt’s children, James Roosevelt, advocated for restoring the USS Potomac and pleaded his case with then-President Ronald Reagan. 

“My uncle Jimmy flew to Washington to meet with President Reagan,” Roosevelt recalled. “And Ronald Reagan, when he was a young boy, voted for FDR four times. He was an FDR Democrat, and he voted for him. So FDR was important to him. He saw the link to history to get the ship floating. Reagan got that.”

Everything in the ship that once belonged to President Roosevelt had rusted from it being almost completely underwater—the only things above water were the smokestacks and the pilot house. Everything else had to be recreated. 

The restoration of the USS Potomac took 12 years with the help of organized labor, maritime corporations, and dedicated volunteers, and cost $5 million. 

Roosevelt never got to meet his famous grandfather. Still, he has fond memories of Eleanor Roosevelt as his grandmother and a champion of equal rights. As the chair of the United Nations Human Rights Commission, she played a key role in forming the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. 

One thing that Roosevelt wishes he’d done more frequently is ask his father questions about the family and talk about the impact that his grandparents had on the country.

“When I was doing the work for the students in LA, that was article 26 of the declaration, the right to free and equal education,” he said. “This ship represents education. It represents a time in the history of this country that needs to be reflected on and remembered because it’s a time when freedoms and individual rights were squashed by the war and the depression.”

While President Roosevelt has a complicated legacy and faced criticism over his administration’s policies during World War II , he is widely revered for implementing the “New Deal,” a series of government programs and laws in the 1930s designed to help people overcome the effects of the Great Depression and restore prosperity throughout the country. It included the passage of banking reform laws, emergency and work relief programs, and agricultural programs. Later, a second wave included union protection programs, the Social Security Act, and programs to aid tenant farmers and migrant workers. 

“When you hear people today calling to cut Social Security and so on, they don’t get it,” Roosevelt said. “They’re in for a quick win or a headline. These people that want to dismantle the New Deal programs, you can’t because they’re everywhere.”

For Roosevelt, leading the effort to preserve the vessel as a historical artifact and educational tool is a personal mission. 

“This ship, to me, is the epitome of a floating, rocking, testament of his vision. Every time I’ve come on, I remember my grandmother. Even though she wasn’t on a lot, I think of her. I think of him. I think of my dad because he was on it quite a bit,” he said. “It’s an interesting experience.”

After being closed to visitors for most of the pandemic, the USS Potomac is now open for guided tours. Those who go can see where President Roosevelt met with cabinet members and the small room where he sometimes hosted his fireside chats addressing the nation in radio broadcasts during World War II. 

When visiting the USS Potomac, you might also come across volunteers who dedicate their free time to help with the upkeep of the vessel, many of whom are veterans who once voted for President Roosevelt.

“People get hooked onto the ship, and they come back. I’m going, ‘What is going on?’ But then you see why,” he said. “The Potomac is unique. There’s nothing like it.”

Besides the docent tours, the USS Potomac offers narrated cruises every year between April and November. One of Roosevelt’s first projects as executive director was unveiling a new website that makes it easier for people to learn not only the history of the ship but how to book cruises online . 

He plans to partner with other organizations to make the ship available as an educational tool for more people in Oakland and beyond.

“There are historical artifacts that are real and important to people, this being one of them,” he said. “It’s important to keep it working, keep it afloat, and keep it available to people.”

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Azucena rasilla.

Azucena Rasilla is a bilingual journalist from East Oakland reporting in Spanish and in English, and a longtime reporter on Oakland arts, culture and community. As an independent local journalist, she has reported for KQED Arts, The Bold Italic, Zora and The San Francisco Chronicle. She was a writer and social media editor for the East Bay Express, helping readers navigate Oakland’s rich artistic and creative landscapes through a wide range of innovative digital approaches.

Here's what happened to America's presidential yachts — and why there isn't one anymore

The president of the US gets to travel in style anywhere he goes.

In the air, a specially designed Boeing 747 becomes "Air Force One" as soon as the commander in chief is on board.

But the president rarely travels by boat anymore, if at all. And having a presidential yacht for leisure isn't the best PR move. ( Just ask Britain .)

Many ships have served as presidential yachts throughout the past hundred years — so Business Insider is taking a look back at the retro method of executive travel. 

The first naval ship to carry the presidential flag was the USS Dolphin. One of the first steel-bodied ships produced for the US Navy, it carried Presidents Grover Cleveland and William McKinley from 1893 to 1897.

After the Dolphin was decommissioned, the first ever wireless-radio broadcast originated from its decks while docked at the Brooklyn Navy Yard in New York.

USS Mayflower, a recommissioned a luxury steam yacht, was put into service on July 25, 1905, by President Theodore Roosevelt.

Presidents Woodrow Wilson, Howard Taft, and Herbert Hoover would also use the Mayflower before it was decommissioned in 1929. Here, President Taft boards the Mayflower.

In 1934, when the US had a better financial foothold in the world, Franklin Delano Roosevelt commissioned the USS Potomac to serve as an executive cruiser.

FDR had the presidential seal emblazoned on the bow of the ship, which is now docked at Jack London Square in Oakland, California. It offers regular cruises on San Francisco Bay.

The USS Williamsburg served as presidential yacht from 1945 to 1953.

The Williamsburg served Presidents Harry Truman and Dwight D. Eisenhower, though Eisenhower only made one voyage before having it decommissioned in 1953.

The Williamsburg was given to the National Science Foundation and renamed Anton Bruun, after the famous Dutch marine biologist.

Today, the Williamsburg is rusting away at a dock in La Spezia, Italy, where it has sat since 1993. And it’s for sale, if you’re interested, by Monaco-based Camper & Nicholsons yacht brokers.

The most recent, largest, and longest-lived of presidential yachts is the USS Sequoia.

The 104-foot executive cruiser was used by commanders in chief from 1936, until Jimmy Carter sold the ship in 1977.

Here, Franklin Delano Roosevelt relaxes on the Sequoia's deck with his entourage.

In 2013, the Sequoia was sold for $7.8 million. The new owners have kept much of the presidential memorabilia around.

The vessel is available for hire, and anyone can feel like the president for a night.

Toiletries are included, too, but you might want to bring your own.

You can find the Sequoia docked in the nation's capital, reminiscing about its days of presidential service.

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Presidential yacht  potomac.

540 Water Street Oakland, CA 94607

(510) 627-1215

The Potomac Association is committed to preserving the legacy of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt through education for students and adults. Educational cruises highlight the impact of the FDR Era on our local and national history.

Docents lead educational tours of the Potomac and facilitate in classroom discussions with students of all ages.

Where would you like to go on the Bay, and what would you like to see? The USS Potomac offers cruise opportunities on the San Francisco Bay where you will see the bridges and islands, among many other wonderful sights.

While you cruise, you will hear about the history of the San Francisco Bay and FDR’s role in its development. Our public cruises include live narration from experienced, enthusiastic volunteers.

You may also choose to enjoy an hour-long docent-led dockside tour as a way to see and enjoy the ship. Walk in the footsteps of presidents and kings.

Public Cruises

The USS Potomac normally operates live-narrated San Francisco Bay public cruises from April through Veteran's Day in November. Emphasis is placed on the history of the Bay Area and the surrounding landmarks and the effect FDR’s administration had on the Bay Area. Guests may watch a 15-minute video in the Visitor Center prior to the cruise. The video provides a glimpse of Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s use of the USS Potomac, emphasizes the impact of his administration on the country, and tells the USS Potomac restoration story.

The Presidential Yacht USS Potomac is a historically preserved vessel. As such, it does not fully comply with the facility access standards of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The ship allows limited access for the mobility impaired. Wheelchairs are limited to the main deck only. Restrooms onboard the ship are not accessible as the maximum wheelchair width (outside of wheel to outside of wheel) is 25 inches. Accessible restrooms are available in the Port of Oakland Buildings next to the Potomac. USS Potomac docents and crew are not allowed to provide physical assistance to mobility impaired individuals; including lifting occupied wheelchairs over obstacles.

See Our Schedule and Purchase Tickets

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Tickets are NOT being sold over the phone OR at the USS Potomac Visitor's Center.

Safety Requirements While on the Vessel

The USS Potomac Association requires that all guests wear flat-soled shoes onboard. High heeled or platform shoes present a risk to the wearer. Vessels on the Bay can roll and pitch unexpectedly. Also, if guests partake in drinking alcohol, which may be served during an event, their stability will be more negatively affected by high heeled or platform shoes.

DO NOT carry food, drinks, or anything else in both hands while going up or down any ladders (stairs). This presents a significant safety risk to you should the ship roll or pitch unexpectedly.

THERE IS NO SMOKING OR VAPING ANYWHERE OR ANYTIME ON THE USS POTOMAC.

Proof of vaccination and masks are no longer required on the USS Potomac. HOWEVER, there are many confined spaces on the ship, so masks are optional for your protection and the protection of others.

Dockside Tours

The USS Potomac is open for dockside tours on specified Wednesdays and Sundays. Tours are scheduled at 11:00 AM and 12:30 PM.

Purchase tickets on the USS Potomac website. Tickets are only available online—they are not sold at the Visitor Center.

Docent-Led Tours

Tours begin with a 15-minute video in the Visitor Center followed by a 1-hour docent-led tour of the ship. The video provides a glimpse of Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s use of the USS Potomac during his administration, and the USS Potomac’s restoration story.

For groups of 10 or more for Dockside tours, please call (510) 627-1215 BEFORE purchasing tickets. Special arrangements have to be made to schedule additional docents.

Adults 18+: $20 Seniors/Military and Veterans: $18 Youth 10-17: $15 Children 5-9: $10 Admission for ages 9 and under: Free

Washington St Garage between 2nd St and Embarcadero St, one block from the USS Potomac. We do not validate parking.

The Presidential Yacht USS Potomac is a historically preserved vessel. As such, it does not fully comply with the facility access standards of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The ship allows limited access for the mobility impaired. Wheelchairs are limited to the main deck only. The restrooms onboard the ship are not wheelchair accessible as the maximum wheelchair width (outside of wheel to outside of wheel) is 25 inches. USS Potomac docents and crew are not allowed to provide physical assistance to mobility impaired individuals; including lifting occupied wheelchairs over obstacles.

Private Charters

The USS Potomac, President Roosevelt's floating White House, is available for private charter throughout the year. Whether for an anniversary, wedding, reception, corporate event, retirement party, memorial cruise, or any other occasion, the USS Potomac is a truly unique venue for any very special day. We offer a preferred caterer list or you may provide your own as long as the vendor follows our caterer guidelines.

For information on cruises or dockside charters, call (510) 627-1215 or email jpettley@usspotomac.org .

Ship Capacity

Maximum passenger load is 100 guests. Your catering servers are additional to your guest list.

The USS Potomac normally departs from the foot of Clay Street in Jack London Square in Oakland, California.   However, pick-ups and drop-offs may be available for your private event in San Francisco at the China Basin Ferry Terminal adjacent to Oracle Park, or a Sausalito waterfront location.  

Approvals for the "foreign dock" locations are required by the USS Potomac Executive Director, after consultation with the ship's captains, and by the individual dock management authorities. If approved, additional facility use and transit charges will be incurred by the charterer.  For questions, please email  [email protected] .

For 2024, the fee for a minimum three-hour charter cruise on the USS Potomac is $8,500, with each additional cruise hour charged at $1,500.  For example, if you would like to extend your private cruise to four hours, the cruise fee is $10,000.

For 501(c)3 nonprofits, the rate is $7,500 for a three-hour cruise, and $1,000 for each additional cruise hour.

If you wish a pick up and drop off at San Francisco's Oracle Park or in Sausalito, there is an additional fee of $1,500, plus pass-through SF Port or Sausalito Docking Charges which can be as much as 7% of the charter fee.

Dockside charters at Jack London Square are $900 for the first hour. Each additional hour is $500. Nonprofit dockside charters at Jack London Square are $800 for the first hour, and $500 each additional hour thereafter.

Fleet Week charter pricing is not included. Fleet Week charters are by special arrangement.

To set up your charter, please contact the Potomac office at jpettley@usspotomac.org or call (510) 627-1215 .

Preferred Caterers

The USS Potomac has a preferred list of fine caterers; all have served successfully aboard the ship. These caterers are familiar with the unique requirements of the vessel. Find the Preferred Caterers List here .

Entertainers

Space is limited on the ship but live entertainment and DJs are welcome aboard.  We can make suggestions for your entertainment needs.. Power accommodations are available.  We have a full-ship Bogen Sound System with wireless mic; CDs, iPods, and smartphones can be accommodated.

For the safety of you and your guests, the USS Potomac Association requires the wearing of flat-soled shoes while onboard. High heeled or platform shoes are not permitted, as they present a risk to the wearer. Vessels on the Bay can roll and pitch unexpectedly. Also, if your guests partake in drinking alcohol you serve during your event, their stability will be more negatively affected by high heeled or platform shoes.

There is no smoking or vaping anywhere or anytime on the USS Potomac.

Two to four volunteer USS Potomac docents will be present for your event and are delighted to conduct informal tours for your guests.

Days and Times

The USS Potomac is NOT available for charter on Mondays and Tuesdays, except by special arrangement.

The Presidential Yacht USS Potomac is a historically preserved vessel. As such, it does not fully comply with the facility access standards of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The ship allows limited access for the mobility impaired. Wheelchairs are limited to the main deck only. The restrooms onboard the ship are not accessible. Restrooms are available at the dock near the Potomac. The maximum wheelchair width (outside of wheel to outside of wheel) is 25 inches. USS Potomac docents and crew are not allowed to provide physical assistance to mobility impaired individuals; including lifting occupied wheelchairs over obstacles.

Hear What Others Are Saying About Our Private Charters!

“the entire cruise truly exceeded my expectations in every way my guests are still talking about it, and i will never forget such a memorable and moving day.”.

– From a 50th wedding anniversary charter

“I also want to more than thank the Docents on board… for our surprise birthday charter. They were more than wonderful… They wanted to give our guests a very rich experience… How great was that? The crew, [the] captain, [and] the professionalism of your operation made my worries just fly away when I boarded the ship… thank you for allowing me, as the hostess, to also enjoy the party to its fullest.”

– From a double surprise birthday charter

“Kudos to you, your staff, the crew, and especially to the affable captain, who made it all look so easy! I would be happy to be called upon as a reference, should the need arise.”

– From the bride on a wedding cruise

“We’ve been on the [USS] Potomac five times, each has been unique, and all have been a joy… Your guys are absolutely wonderful.”

– From a regular guest

USS Potomac

Michael Roosevelt, the grandson of Franklin D. Roosevelt, conducted a tour of the USS Potomac , the Roosevelt presidential yacht.

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The Presidential Yacht

Preserving the uss sequoia, a vessel of history.

Susan Stamberg

The USS Sequoia travels down the Potomac River near Washington, D.C. U.S. Navy hide caption

President John F. Kennedy opens gifts during a birthday party aboard the Sequoia, as Jackie Kennedy looks on. © CORBIS hide caption

A floating retreat, the USS Sequoia was one of the places presidents from Hoover to Carter found to escape the rigors of office. Richard Nixon came to the 104-foot-long vessel on perhaps the most difficult moment of his presidency, the day he announced his resignation. Now there's an effort to preserve the former presidential yacht. NPR's Susan Stamberg reports.

The Sequoia hosted White House parties, foreign chiefs of state -- and, lately, rich revelers willing to pay $10,000 per night to sail the Potomac River. Stamberg recently got a tour of the National Historic Landmark from Giles Kelly, a retired Navy officer who was the Sequoia's captain in the 1980s.

Kelly says Nixon brought his family aboard when he was about to resign in 1974, perhaps in an effort to spare them from being pestered by reporters. "They had this cruise down to Mount Vernon that evening," Kelly says. "But, of course, they were followed by a press boat. And it was very uncomfortable for the Nixon children. They said it was like bobbing along in a fishbowl. It really must have been a very sad occasion. But you know, they all sat down and sang, and the president played 'God Bless America.'"

The 78-year-old yacht was sold to the government in 1931 during the Depression. For a time, the Commerce Department used the boat to patrol the Chesapeake and to trap rum-runners during Prohibition. Herbert Hoover was the first president to use the Sequoia. Franklin D. Roosevelt fished from it. Lyndon Johnson took members of Congress aboard, and refused to let them return to shore until they agreed with him.

In 1977, Jimmy Carter sold the Sequoia -- "the yacht was a bit too imperial for his down-home presidency," Stamberg reports. In 1999, a collector of presidential memorabilia bought the Sequoia for almost $2 million, restored it, and rents it out now -- for $10,000 a night.

Kelly is trying to help raise $10 million to preserve the Sequoia as a historic entity. "She's such a grand boat that I just can't imagine her deteriorating and being left to rot..." he says.

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Out of the Centre

Savvino-storozhevsky monastery and museum.

Zvenigorod's most famous sight is the Savvino-Storozhevsky Monastery, which was founded in 1398 by the monk Savva from the Troitse-Sergieva Lavra, at the invitation and with the support of Prince Yury Dmitrievich of Zvenigorod. Savva was later canonised as St Sabbas (Savva) of Storozhev. The monastery late flourished under the reign of Tsar Alexis, who chose the monastery as his family church and often went on pilgrimage there and made lots of donations to it. Most of the monastery’s buildings date from this time. The monastery is heavily fortified with thick walls and six towers, the most impressive of which is the Krasny Tower which also serves as the eastern entrance. The monastery was closed in 1918 and only reopened in 1995. In 1998 Patriarch Alexius II took part in a service to return the relics of St Sabbas to the monastery. Today the monastery has the status of a stauropegic monastery, which is second in status to a lavra. In addition to being a working monastery, it also holds the Zvenigorod Historical, Architectural and Art Museum.

Belfry and Neighbouring Churches

Located near the main entrance is the monastery's belfry which is perhaps the calling card of the monastery due to its uniqueness. It was built in the 1650s and the St Sergius of Radonezh’s Church was opened on the middle tier in the mid-17th century, although it was originally dedicated to the Trinity. The belfry's 35-tonne Great Bladgovestny Bell fell in 1941 and was only restored and returned in 2003. Attached to the belfry is a large refectory and the Transfiguration Church, both of which were built on the orders of Tsar Alexis in the 1650s.  

To the left of the belfry is another, smaller, refectory which is attached to the Trinity Gate-Church, which was also constructed in the 1650s on the orders of Tsar Alexis who made it his own family church. The church is elaborately decorated with colourful trims and underneath the archway is a beautiful 19th century fresco.

Nativity of Virgin Mary Cathedral

The Nativity of Virgin Mary Cathedral is the oldest building in the monastery and among the oldest buildings in the Moscow Region. It was built between 1404 and 1405 during the lifetime of St Sabbas and using the funds of Prince Yury of Zvenigorod. The white-stone cathedral is a standard four-pillar design with a single golden dome. After the death of St Sabbas he was interred in the cathedral and a new altar dedicated to him was added.

Under the reign of Tsar Alexis the cathedral was decorated with frescoes by Stepan Ryazanets, some of which remain today. Tsar Alexis also presented the cathedral with a five-tier iconostasis, the top row of icons have been preserved.

Tsaritsa's Chambers

The Nativity of Virgin Mary Cathedral is located between the Tsaritsa's Chambers of the left and the Palace of Tsar Alexis on the right. The Tsaritsa's Chambers were built in the mid-17th century for the wife of Tsar Alexey - Tsaritsa Maria Ilinichna Miloskavskaya. The design of the building is influenced by the ancient Russian architectural style. Is prettier than the Tsar's chambers opposite, being red in colour with elaborately decorated window frames and entrance.

At present the Tsaritsa's Chambers houses the Zvenigorod Historical, Architectural and Art Museum. Among its displays is an accurate recreation of the interior of a noble lady's chambers including furniture, decorations and a decorated tiled oven, and an exhibition on the history of Zvenigorod and the monastery.

Palace of Tsar Alexis

The Palace of Tsar Alexis was built in the 1650s and is now one of the best surviving examples of non-religious architecture of that era. It was built especially for Tsar Alexis who often visited the monastery on religious pilgrimages. Its most striking feature is its pretty row of nine chimney spouts which resemble towers.

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The Unique Burial of a Child of Early Scythian Time at the Cemetery of Saryg-Bulun (Tuva)

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Pages:  379-406

In 1988, the Tuvan Archaeological Expedition (led by M. E. Kilunovskaya and V. A. Semenov) discovered a unique burial of the early Iron Age at Saryg-Bulun in Central Tuva. There are two burial mounds of the Aldy-Bel culture dated by 7th century BC. Within the barrows, which adjoined one another, forming a figure-of-eight, there were discovered 7 burials, from which a representative collection of artifacts was recovered. Burial 5 was the most unique, it was found in a coffin made of a larch trunk, with a tightly closed lid. Due to the preservative properties of larch and lack of air access, the coffin contained a well-preserved mummy of a child with an accompanying set of grave goods. The interred individual retained the skin on his face and had a leather headdress painted with red pigment and a coat, sewn from jerboa fur. The coat was belted with a leather belt with bronze ornaments and buckles. Besides that, a leather quiver with arrows with the shafts decorated with painted ornaments, fully preserved battle pick and a bow were buried in the coffin. Unexpectedly, the full-genomic analysis, showed that the individual was female. This fact opens a new aspect in the study of the social history of the Scythian society and perhaps brings us back to the myth of the Amazons, discussed by Herodotus. Of course, this discovery is unique in its preservation for the Scythian culture of Tuva and requires careful study and conservation.

Keywords: Tuva, Early Iron Age, early Scythian period, Aldy-Bel culture, barrow, burial in the coffin, mummy, full genome sequencing, aDNA

Information about authors: Marina Kilunovskaya (Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation). Candidate of Historical Sciences. Institute for the History of Material Culture of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Dvortsovaya Emb., 18, Saint Petersburg, 191186, Russian Federation E-mail: [email protected] Vladimir Semenov (Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation). Candidate of Historical Sciences. Institute for the History of Material Culture of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Dvortsovaya Emb., 18, Saint Petersburg, 191186, Russian Federation E-mail: [email protected] Varvara Busova  (Moscow, Russian Federation).  (Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation). Institute for the History of Material Culture of the Russian Academy of Sciences.  Dvortsovaya Emb., 18, Saint Petersburg, 191186, Russian Federation E-mail:  [email protected] Kharis Mustafin  (Moscow, Russian Federation). Candidate of Technical Sciences. Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology.  Institutsky Lane, 9, Dolgoprudny, 141701, Moscow Oblast, Russian Federation E-mail:  [email protected] Irina Alborova  (Moscow, Russian Federation). Candidate of Biological Sciences. Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology.  Institutsky Lane, 9, Dolgoprudny, 141701, Moscow Oblast, Russian Federation E-mail:  [email protected] Alina Matzvai  (Moscow, Russian Federation). Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology.  Institutsky Lane, 9, Dolgoprudny, 141701, Moscow Oblast, Russian Federation E-mail:  [email protected]

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