The idea of Carter, Truman, Eisenhower, McKinley, Roosevelt and Grant taking a vacation together in Florida might sound like a fantasy, but the Society of Presidential Descendants makes it happen every year.
It’s a club that you literally have to be born into. Each Presidents Day, first families meet up at a historic spot called the Little White House in scenic Key West.
“The first time we did anything like this was in 2010 with Margaret Hoover, President Hoover’s great granddaughter, and her husband,” Clifton Truman, the oldest grandson of 33rd President Harry Truman, told ABC News. “And the next year, we added Susan Ford and Luci Baines Johnson.”
Since 2018, the group has met annually and amassed 75 direct descendants from 26 presidents. They know their families are wrapped up in the nation’s history.
“Susan Ford said, I wasn’t sure, that the job was sort of twofold. One, to keep up with the legacy — your ancestor’s legacy — to preserve that, promote it, defend it,” Clifton said. “But the second part of the job is to do something with it on your own, make it your own in some way.”
Part of the preservation is sharing stories with eager audiences at Harry and Bess Truman’s second home. The Little White House is a museum now, but Clifton used to come here with his grandparents in the ’60s.
Their names carry a lot of weight, and a great deal of responsibility. Tweed Roosevelt, the great grandson of President Theodore Roosevelt, the nation’s 26th commander in chief, recounted being held to a higher standard in school.
“‘Mr. Roosevelt, it’s all right for the other boys to do that. But it’s not all right for you to do it,’” he told ABC News. “That was the most valuable lesson I learned in all my four years of college.”
Ulysses Grant Dietz, the youngest great-great grandchild of President Ulysses S. Grant and his wife, Julia. Out of 41 great-great grandchildren, he’s the only one to share a name with the 18th president.
“I became the torch-bearer,” he told ABC News. “And so people will say ‘Oh, well they’re historians, but we want you to talk because your name is Ulysses.’ So you have to back that up with some self-education.”
While this is the yearly formal gathering, this specially connected group of friends gather elsewhere from time to time on other special occasions. Before former President Jimmy Carter died in December, almost a dozen descendants — including his grandson James Earl Carter IV — gathered to celebrate the 39th president’s 100th birthday last October.
They’re descended from Democrats and Republicans, but party affiliation and policy discussion have never stood in the way of the group’s mission to stick together.
“One of the things that all of our ancestors had in common was a great love for the country, a great respect for the institution of the presidency, regardless of politics, and that’s something that we all share as well,” James said.
It also acts as a support system in more challenging times.
“I had a heart attack back in July, and all of these friends contacted me and were there for me, so they’re family,” Massee McKinley, who is the great-great nephew of 25th President William McKinley and the great, great grandson of 22nd and 24th President Grover Cleveland, told ABC News.
Mary Jean Eisenhower, youngest grandchild of 34th President Dwight Eisenhower, noted that they don’t carry on any conflicts their forebears may have had.
“I think it’s fairly common knowledge that Truman and my grandfather had a rift, you know, later on in their lives,” she told ABC News. “And we’ve talked it out, and not only have we discovered that they made up, but we decided that we straightened our grandparents out.”
This group is determined to use their famous family names to push the legacy forward.
“Presidents Day is an opportunity to begin to remind people of what their civic duties are. Everybody seems to know their rights, but they seem to have forgotten that those rights come with duties,” Tweed Roosevelt said. “One of the things we’re trying to do is help Americans understand what their role is, so that democracy will survive.”
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