BOISE, Idaho — Monday, Feb. 21 is Presidents Day. A day originally intended to celebrate the first U.S. president George Washington's birthday, but that has since turned into a day to celebrate all 46 U.S. presidents.
So far, there have not been any presidents to come out of Idaho, but presidents have had plenty of impacts on the state's history.
Abraham Lincoln officially recognized Idaho as a territory in 1863, but it was Grover Cleveland who ensured Idaho stayed whole.
In 1887, Congress had proposed, then passed, legislation that would give the northern part of Idaho back to Washington. Another proposal around that same time would have given southern Idaho to Nevada, which was dealing with an economic crisis, and eliminate Idaho as a state altogether.
Idaho's territorial governor at the time, Edward Stevenson, heard the news of the proposals and immediately sent a telegram to President Cleveland, who then decided to pocket veto the bill. Gov. Stevenson was cousin to the then Vice President, Adlai Stevenson.
Gov. Stevenson traveled to DC shortly after the ordeal, once the issue arose again in the following session. The bill was eventually defeated and a push for statehood was made, solidifying Idaho as a state in 1890.
The Museum of Idaho put together a list of other contributions to Idaho made by U.S. presidents:
- Thomas Jefferson was responsible for sending Lewis and Clark to the Pacific, which allowed them to explore and map what would become the future state of Idaho, utilizing substantial help from Sacajawea, a native of the Lemhi River Valley.
- Abraham Lincoln signed the act that made the Idaho Territory on March 4, 1863, out of portions of Washington Territory and Dakota Territory.
- Benjamin Harrison signed the act that admitted Idaho as a state on July 3, 1890.
- Richard Nixon ended his presidency partly due to FBI Associate Director and Twin Falls native, Mark Felt, who anonymously provided vital information about the Watergate scandal to the Washington Post, and earned the nickname "Deep Throat".
Since 1964, when President Lyndon Johnson visited the Idaho National Laboratory in eastern Idaho, every sitting president since has visited the state while in office, except for Donald Trump.
President Joe Biden has made just one trip to the Gem State since taking office in 2021. On Sept. 13, 2021, the president landed in Boise to address the severe drought gripping Western states and visit the National Interagency Fire Center.
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