us presidential yacht potomac

The Floating White House was originally commissioned as the USCG Cutter Electra in 1934. In 1936, it was renamed the USS Potomac and served as Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Presidential Yacht until his death in 1945.

More than half a million people have visited and sailed aboard the former president's beloved floating white house, the uss potomac, since it opened to the public in the summer of 1995. over a 12-year period, $5 million was spent to restore the 165-foot-long vessel as a memorial to the president who authored the new deal and led the united states during the great depression and the world war ii years. join us aboard this national historic landmark for a cruise on the bay.

Watch the fascinating, colorful history of the USS Potomac.

The USS Potomac Association office and visitor's center are open:

9:00 AM–12:00 PM, Monday–Friday

Phone: (510) 627-1215

Voicemail messages will be responded to on a regular basis by the USS Potomac volunteers.

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There are many ways to support the USS Potomac and help keep history alive, such as one-time donations, volunteering, or becoming a Friend of the USS Potomac.

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Picture your family and friends around you to witness the beginning of your life’s greatest adventure on one of the most beautiful wedding venues in the Bay Area. Have your ceremony dockside or while cruising beautiful San Francisco Bay. For information or to schedule your wedding event, call (510) 627-1215 or email: [email protected].

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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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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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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

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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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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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USS Potomac: FDR’s Presidential Yacht

The USS Potomac had an important role in the New Deal. It served as Franklin D. Roosevelt’s presidential yacht from 1936 until his death in 1945. The President held many work meetings with his cabinet members. “One frequent visitor was Frances Perkins, the secretary of labor.” Moored in Jack London Square, the yacht is owned and operated today by Ford Roosevelt, the president’s grandson and director of the Association for the Preservation of the Presidential Yacht Potomac. The San Francisco Chronicle published a story about the ship’s history and Ford Roosevelt’s work to preserve it.

One comment on “ USS Potomac: FDR’s Presidential Yacht ”

Are there any ship logs for any voyages to Mexico in 1938 by Cordell Hull and other American oil company executives? That is around the time Mexico was nationalizing the oil industry. Their mission was to convince President Cardenas not to do so.

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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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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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A day on the bay aboard FDR’s presidential yacht, USS Potomac with grandson Ford Roosevelt

Correspondent Tom Wilmer visits with Ford Roosevelt, FDR’s grandson aboard the presidential yacht USS Potomac in Jack London Square , Oakland Harbor where Ford serves as Executive Director of the non-profit, Potomac Association.

The USS Potomac served as the President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s “Floating White House” from 1936 until his death in 1945.

How the USS Potomac came to reside in Oakland , California is a fascinating journey.

Following the death of FDR, the vessel spent a ten year stint as a Coast Guard patrol boat, followed by service as a Caribbean ferry, Elvis Presley's private yacht, and a stint as a drug smuggler that ultimately led to its sinking while tied up on Treasure Island.

The Oakland Port Authority purchased the derelict USS Potomac and spent more than fourteen years, and six million dollars painstakingly restoring Roosevelt’s Presidential Yacht.

Today the vessel is a registered National Historic Landmark, permanently berthed at Oakland’s Jack London Square. Maintained by the Potomac Foundation , the historic vessel offers regularly scheduled, and charter San Francisco Bay cruises.

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Experience authentically curated historical events that recreate what it was like to be a guest of William Randolph Hearst—from swimming in the iconic Neptune pool to Dining in Hearst’s private guest house overlooking the Pacific Ocean.

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USS Potomac

• 540 Water St., Foot of Clay St., Oakland, CA 94607
• Neighborhood: Jack London District
• Phone: (510) 627-1215
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Affectionately dubbed the Floating White House by the press, Franklin Delano Roosevelt's presidential yacht is one of the few floating museums in the country. The restored 165-foot vessel, a national historic landmark, is a memorial to FDR and his accomplishments. The Floating White House was originally commissioned the USCG Cutter Electra in 1934.  In 1936 it was renamed the USS Potomac and served as Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Presidential Yacht until his death in 1945. GROUP ACTIVITIES & EXPERIENCES The USS Potomac is available for limited private charter. Consider the USS Potomac all through the year for your special events. Whether it is an anniversary, wedding, reception, promotion, memorial cruises or any other occasion, the Potomac is a truly unique venue for any very special day. Ship Capacity -  Maximum passenger load is 120 people. For events with food and beverage service, 80-90 passengers is recommended. Docking -  The Potomac sails from the foot of Clay Street in Jack London Square, Oakland, CA. Pickups & drop-offs may be available for your event at a San Francisco waterfront location. Fees -  The Potomac is competitively priced with other charter vessels of her size. A minimum three-hour charter cruise on board the USS Potomac starts at $7,000. Each additional hour is $1,000. Dockside charters are available and start at $600 per hour with a 2-hour minimum. Each additional hour is $600. For information on cruises or dockside charters call 510-627-1215 or email [email protected] . The Potomac is NOT available for charter on Mondays and Tuesdays except by special arrangement.

Meeting Facilities

Facility info.

• Description The USS Potomac, President Roosevelt's floating White House from 1936 to his death in 1945, is a National Historic Landmark. At 165-feet long and weighing over 300 tons, the historic vessel is truly a unique setting for any special event, whether an anniversary, wedding, birthday, reception, retirement party, corporate event, or memorial cruise. The Potomac is available year'round for charters, and the captain, crew and docents work diligently to ensure guests have the best possible experience and successful event. Captains consult with charterer to explore preferred their preferred route in the Bay. Preferred catering list available or charterer may provide th eir own as long as the vendor follows the Potomac's caterer guidelines.
• Reception Capacity 110
• Space Notes Maximum passenger capacity is 110 guests, not including catering servers, crew or docents.
• Number of Rooms 1

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Classic Yacht Register

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• Presidential Yachts

1. River Queen

Served grant and lincoln, 1865-1866, 2. uss despatch , 1873, served cleveland, 1880-1891, 3. uss dolphin 1884.

Dolphin was the first Navy ship to fly the Flag of the President of the United States during President Chester A. Arthur's administration, and the second Navy ship to serve as a presidential yacht.

4. USS Sylph , 1890

USS Sylph (PY-5) was a steam yacht that served as a presidential yacht from the late 19th century through to the early 1920s. A converted yacht, she was purchased in June 1898 from her builder, the Delaware River Iron Shipbuilding and Engine Works, of Chester, Pennsylvania, and commissioned on 18 August 1898 at the Norfolk Navy Yard.

5. USS Mayflower , 1896

Mayflower —a luxurious steam yacht built in 1896 by J. and G. Thompson, Clydebank, Scotland for millionaire Ogden Goelet who died on board the Mayflower in August 1897.  The following year she was purchased by the U.S. Navy to help fight the Spanish Navy off Cuba.  Around 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt had her re-purposed as a presidential yacht, which could be used to conduct diplomacy in addition to serving as a nautical means of transportation for the Commander-in-Chief. With her long bowsprit, tall masts, elegant lines, and white paint, she was sure to make a good impression on visiting foreign diplomats. In fact, that same year aboard the ship President Roosevelt hosted the formal negotiations between Russia and Japan to end the Russo-Japanese War. The  Mayflower  continued to serve as the presidential yacht under Presidents Taft, Wilson, Harding, and Coolidge. One of Herbert Hoover's early acts as president was to dispense with Mayflower as an economy measure, saving upkeep costs of $300,000 per year. (More about Mayflower at the Coolidge Foundation .)

6. USS Sequoia , 1925

The yacht is 104 feet (32 m) long, with a wooden hull, and was designed by John Trumpy Sr., a well-known shipbuilder. It includes a presidential stateroom, guest bedrooms, a galley and dining room, and was at one time retrofitted with an elevator for Franklin D. Roosevelt (Lyndon Johnson had it removed and replaced with a liquor bar).

The ship was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1987. Following years of neglect and legal battles over ownership, Sequoia is last reported to be in extremely poor condition in Chesapeake Boat Works in Deltaville, Virginia (2017). Her owners estimate that removal of the yacht would require a specialized crane and complete reconstruction of the hull.

7. USS Potomac , 1934

USS Potomac (AG-25) , formerly USCGC Electra , was Franklin Delano Roosevelt's presidential yacht from 1936 until his death in 1945. A National Historic Landmark, Potomac is now berthed in Oakland, CA, and is available for public tours and cruises.  https://www.usspotomac.org

Potomac is also an Honorary Member of the CYA.

8. USS Williamsburg , 1930

The USS Williamsburg   relieved Potomac as presidential yacht on 10 November 1945. She served Presidents Truman and Eisenhower.

During Truman’s tenure, she embarked such American and foreign notables as Secretary of State George Marshall, President Miguel Alemán of Mexico; and two successive British Prime Ministers, Winston Churchill and Clement Attlee. During the ship's first tour as presidential yacht, she cruised the Potomac River and Chesapeake Bay regions, while occasionally venturing into the open sea for cruises to Florida, Bermuda, Cuba, and the Virgin Islands.

President Dwight D. Eisenhower, made only one cruise in Williamsburg before ordering her decommissioned.  Accordingly decommissioned at the Washington Navy Yard on 30 June 1953, she was turned over to the Potomac River Naval Command for maintenance and preservation. Subsequently shifted to Newport, Rhode Island, she remained in "special status" from about 2 April 1959. Williamsburg was struck from the Navy list on 1 April 1962.

9. Honey Fitz , 1931

The 93-foot wooden yacht was originally built in 1931 by Defoe Shipyard in Bay City, Michigan for Sewell Avery, a prominent businessman from Chicago, who mostly used it to cruise around Lake Michigan. On June 23, 1945, Lenore became a tender for the USS Potomac . Retaining the yacht’s original name, Truman renamed the tender the yacht Lenore II and mainly used her as a tender for the Williamsburg .

Eisenhower decided the Williamsburg was “too rich for my blood,” and retired her, choosing instead the Lenore II, which he renamed Barbara Anne after one of his granddaughters.

The wooden yacht acquired a more public profile in the 1960’s during John Fitzgerald Kennedy’s presidency. JFK renamed her Honey Fitz , the nickname used by his maternal grandfather.

Johnson continued to use the yacht during his administration, mainly for dinner and cocktail parties.

By the time Nixon came to office, the Honey Fitz was a well-known yacht. Although Nixon renamed the yacht Patricia after his wife, the press and indeed everyone, continued to think of the yacht as Honey Fitz. Nixon sold Honey Fitz in 1970.

Honey Fitz has been fully restored and is available for charters in Florida. Honey Fitz Facebook page

10. Manitou , 1937

Manitou is a 62-foot-long performance cruising yacht designed and built for racing. She served as J.F.K.'s yacht during his presidency. She was built in 1937 at the M. M. Davis & Son shipyard in Solomons Island, Maryland, Design No. 99 of naval architects Sparkman & Stephens, who built many America's Cup racing yachts.

After a successful racing career, Manitou was sold in 1955 and donated to the US Coast Guard to be used as a training vessel at the United States Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut.

President Kennedy used Manitou while he was in office. Manitou was returned to private ownership in 1968 when she became a training vessel for the Harry Lundenburg School of Seamanship in Maryland.

She had an extensive refit in 2011, and is now in the Medeterranean and available for charter on the French Riveira.

U.S. State Yachts

1. washington state: olympus , 1929.

Launched as "Junaluska" in 1929, the yacht came west in the thirties and was used by the military in WWII.  Following the war she was acquired by the State of Washington and renamed Olympus .  She was ostensibly intended as a fisheries patrol vessel, but was actually used as a yacht by the governor, Mon Walgren.  After failing to win re-election in 1948, the state sold the yacht. 

Current location: New York

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