Happy Hour with the Historian | Presidents in the Florida Keys: Power, Politics, and Retreat

The Key West Art & Historical Society is excited to offer a series of fun historical lectures entitled ‘Happy Hour with the Historian’. Historian: Cori Convertito Ph.D. Topic: Presidents in the Florida Keys | Power, Politics, and Retreat At first glance, the remote islands of the Florida Keys, small, isolated, and historically difficult to access, seem an unlikely setting for presidential visits. Unlike major urban or industrial centers, the Keys offered limited infrastructure and few obvious reasons to attract the attention of the nation’s highest office. And yet, over time, they did. From the nineteenth century onward, the Florida Keys, and especially Key West, drew the interest of U.S. presidents for reasons that reflected the islands’ changing role in American history. Early visits were tied to strategy, commerce, and geography, as the Keys served as a vital link to Havana, the Bahamas, and the wider Caribbean. Industries such as wrecking, sponging, and cigar manufacturing shaped both the local economy and the reasons presidents came. By the twentieth century, however, the Keys had undergone a transformation. As economic priorities shifted, so too did the nature of presidential visits. What had once been a place of strategic importance evolved into a destination for rest, recreation, and retreat, most famously illustrated by Harry S. Truman and his time at the ‘Little White House.’ This talk explores the presidents who visited the Florida Keys, both in office and beyond, and examines how their reasons for coming reflect the broader evolution of the islands themselves.