Presidents and Jeeps

Mark suggested we try a to link as many presidents to jeeps as possible. This is meant as a fun, apolitical post. Hoover was the earliest President to live through the invention of the jeep, which is why I start with him.

#31 Herbert Hoover: The only mining engineer to become president, he won acclaim in the mining community for his and his wife's translation of De re Metallica into English. As President, in 1930 he appointed John North Willys, founder of Willys-Overland, to the ambassadorship of Poland. Yeah, I know it's a stretch, but it's the best I could do.

#32 Franklin Roosevelt: Of course, there are lots of different photos of FDR in jeeps. Here's on from 1942:

https://www.mcmahanphoto.com/lc405.html

#33 Harry Truman: I couldn't find one of Truman in a jeep, but I found one of him inspecting a jeep in 1942 at Fort Banning:

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pinterest.com%2Fpin%2F302374562461388960%2F&psig=AOvVaw3p3fqVgMXwt8UUpwp5Kd9z&ust=1605114822213000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=2ahUKEwj9yNfnvPjsAhVQATQIHbC5CI8QjRx6BAgAEAc

#34 Dwight Eisenhower: Like FDR, there are numerous pics of Eisenhower in jeeps. Here's a press photo that sold on eBay:

http://www.ewillys.com/2019/05/17/1944-photo-of-eisenhower-in-france-on-ebay/

#35 John Kennedy: I was struggling with JFK until I found him in 1963 behind a jeep in Costa Rica thanks to the CJ-3B Page:

https://www.cj3b.info/Finds/FindsJFK.html

#36 Lyndon Johnson: According to this website, Lyndon B. Johnson owned this Willys Wagon:

http://www.kitfoster.com/carport/page/9/

#37 Richard Nixon: I had to go back a few years to locate a photo with Nixon and a jeep. This is from his time in the service (pictures on the right):

https://nara.getarchive.net/media/richard-nixon-and-fellow-serviceman-with-a-south-pacific-combat-air-transport-a7db3a

#38 Gerald Ford: Mark found this photo of Gerald Ford and his son in front of a CJ-5:

CJ-5 with son https://geraldrfordfoundation.org/trustee-steve-ford/

#39 Jimmy Carter: Mark found this photo of Jimmy Carter in an M-151, which is jeep-ish. I could not find anything better:

President Jimmy Carter, right, and West German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt stand in jeep as they watch joint U.S. and West German forces air mobile training at nearby U.S. Erbenheim airbase in Germany on July 15, 1978, where Center reviewed a parade of U.S. and West German troops. (AP Photo) M-151 https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2015/11/The-Jeep-A-Visual-History-Americas-Mighty-Midget/415755/

#40 Ronald Reagan: Of course, Reagan is well known for his red CJ-6 and his blue CJ-8 Scrambler, and also owned an M-38A1 that was sold a few years ago, but here's a stock photo of him in a late model CJ-3B:

#41 George H. W. Bush: I could find no photos of Bush 1 and a jeep, but the National Museum of the Pacific War has a George H. W. Bush section that includes a WWII jeep that Ann and I photographed in 2015 during our trip around Texas:

#42 Bill Clinton: Mark found this photo of Bill Clinton with the two millionth jeep:

#43 George W. Bush: We really struggled with Bush 2. I finally settled on this photo of Bush in front of a Biodiesel jeep:

#44 Barack Obama: Barack Obama's first new car purchase was this 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee:

https://www.autotrader.com/car-news/president-obamas-first-new-car-was-jeep-grand-cherokee-258128

#45 Donald Trump: Donald Trump was another challenge, but a pic finally popped up with him in front of a Jeep Grand Cherokee (Trailhawk?):

If anyone has better pics of Presidents with their jeeps, I'd love to get them. I do have a pic of Biden with a jeep, but since he is officially the "presumed President-Elect", and not President quite yet until the Electors vote, I'll wait until things finalize.