Dries: Looking back before Trump’s visit at memorable presidential stops in Memphis
Tracing Presidential visits to the city involves looking through press passes and other relics of not only those who held the office but those who aspired to the office. (Bill Dries/The Daily Memphian)
Bill Dries
Bill Dries covers city and county government and politics. He is a native Memphian and has been a reporter for almost 50 years covering a wide variety of stories from the 1977 death of Elvis Presley and the 1978 police and fire strikes to numerous political campaigns, every county mayor and every Memphis Mayor starting with Wyeth Chandler.
Presidents have come to Memphis as a stop on a long list of cities to pass through in a political blur. At other times, they have come for the city’s history and what it signifies.
Sometimes, as they travel from city to city, they have a script they don’t depart from. Other times, they wing it, maybe with references to Elvis Presley and barbecue, to let those listening know they realize where they are. And still other times, they come to Memphis with a message that is historic or emblematic of the times.
It is almost always political in some way or with at least one political goal in the messaging.
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Barack Obama Bill Clinton George H.W. Bush Ronald Reagan Subscriber OnlyThank you for reading The Daily Memphian. Your support is critical.
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