S.A.’S first presidential visit came during inaugural Fiesta
The birth of Fiesta in 1891, now the spring event that has come to define San Antonio, also happens to be the first time a U.S. president visited the Alamo City.
Here’s a look back at President Benjamin Harrison’s visit: The dreary weather that forced him to miss the inaugural Battle of the Flowers Parade and other presidential appearances in San Antonio.
In the spring of 1891, San Antonio was abuzz with excitement. A new tradition was about to be born — one that would honor the Texans who fought and died in the battles at the Alamo, Goliad and San Jacinto.
Texas had only been a state for 46 years by the time preparations for the presidential visit were underway. The Stars and Stripes were hoisted over the new City Hall, the crossings at St. Mary’s and Houston streets were cleared for the party to pass, and weapons at Fort Sam Houston were readied for a 21gun salute.
Locals were in a frenzy preparing for Fiesta activities, including the first Battle of Flowers. All of this was happening as the Alamo City endured a rainstorm that lasted for days.
It was a soggy mess. Local gardens were flooded and most blooms needed for the Battle of Flowers were ruined. What was left was not enough to decorate the carriages. Other Texas towns came to the rescue.
Still, the San Antonio Daily Light was optimistic, declaring two days before Harrison’s April 20 arrival: “San Antonio will
have one of the greatest days in her history … when she will be visited by the first real, live president she ever saw.”
At 9:15 a.m. April 20, 1891, the president and several prominent Texans arrived to a rain-soaked San Antonio on a special Aransas Pass railway car from Galveston. Thousands gathered at the Southern Pacific depot to greet him.
While there was little doubt the weather would postpone the Battle of the Flowers (it was held four days later), it did not ruin other aspects of Harrison’s three-hour visit. The president toured Fort Sam Houston, the Opera House and, because few leave San Antonio without seeing it, the Alamo.
In a speech, Harrison spoke of the “pride of America” and the importance of a public school education.
“Public schools are the pride and safety of our states,” Harrison said. “In the city in which I dwell, everybody’s children attend the free schools and our children are fitted to govern themselves when we lay down the reins of government. The safety of the state depends upon the good order and intelligence of its citizens.”
The president then headed to El Paso. After the success of the first Battle of the Flowers parade, which occurred a few days later, the organizers formed the Battle of the Flowers Association. By 1895, the celebration had ballooned into a weeklong event.
Since Harrison’s visit to San Antonio, the presence of the country’s top elected official here has yielded some poignant, fleeting, historic and amusing moments.
Ten years after Harrison’s visit, San Antonio welcomed William Mckinley, the nation’s 25th president. Thousands of children sang the national anthem as his carriage rattled into Travis Park, and he later delivered a speech from a platform facing the Alamo.
President John F. Kennedy visited Nov. 21, 1963, for the dedication of a new wing of the School of Aerospace Medicine at Brooks AFB. His appearance is mostly recalled as a prelude to tragedy: The following day, as his motorcade rolled through downtown Dallas, he was assassinated.
Nearly all of the 15 U.S. presidents to visit San Antonio while in office have made a show of remembering the city’s most famous landmark. But only Gerald Ford turned his trip to the Alamo into a national punchline.
Stopping in San Antonio on April 9, 1976, as part of his reelection campaign, Ford attended a reception at the Alamo, hosted by the Daughters of the Republic of Texas.
The president picked up a tamale and, unschooled in the manner of eating one, bit into it “shuck and all.” A photographer captured the gaffe that was dubbed “The Great Tamales Incident” and reinforced Ford’s image as the commander-inchief without a clue.