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Hudson Valley Claims Fame To Presidents Past, Present

With the Hudson Valley and the nation celebrating Presidents Day on Monday, this area continues to be a place near and dear to the hearts of Presidents of the United States from Washington to Obama.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt with his mother, Sara Delano Roosevelt, in 1933 at the family estate in Hyde Park.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt with his mother, Sara Delano Roosevelt, in 1933 at the family estate in Hyde Park.

Photo Credit: U.S. National Archives
Hillary and Bill Clinton march in New Castle's Memorial Day parade. Town Councilwoman Elise Kessler Motte(left) and Deputy Supervisor Lisa Katz (right) march with them

Hillary and Bill Clinton march in New Castle's Memorial Day parade. Town Councilwoman Elise Kessler Motte(left) and Deputy Supervisor Lisa Katz (right) march with them

Photo Credit: Tom Auchterlonie
A statue of Abraham Lincoln at the Lincoln Depot Museum in Peekskill.

A statue of Abraham Lincoln at the Lincoln Depot Museum in Peekskill.

Photo Credit: File Photo

Our very first president, George Washington, spent the summer of 1781 in central Westchester, fighting in the American Revolution. Washington teamed with the French and fought in Dobbs Ferry, Ardsley and White Plains in a risky strategy that helped win the war for the revolutionaries, according to Richard Borkow, who wrote "George Washington's Westchester Gamble."

President Abraham Lincoln's visit to Peekskill on Feb. 19, 1861 is widely celebrated. Lincoln was en route to Washington, D.C.. for the inauguration. His visit is celebrated with an annual parade.

The city opened the Lincoln Depot Museum, which celebrates the 16th President and the Hudson Valley's contribution to the Civil War.

The Peekskill Lincoln Society was founded in 1904 and is the single oldest continually active Lincoln Society in the U.S. Peekskill, in fact, is one of the only communities where Lincoln, Washington and Alexander Hamilton all had a significant presence.

Franklin D. Roosevelt, the 32nd president of the United States who led to nation through the Great Depression and during World War II, was born Jan. 30, 1882 in Hyde Park in Northwest Dutchess County. The FDR National Historic Site in Hyde Park is his resting place.

Other parts of the area have had their own brush with Presidential fame.

President John F. Kennedy lived in Bronxville when he was younger. 

In 1927, the Kennedy family moved from Brookline, MA, to the Bronx, where they spent two years before settling into a five-and-a-half acre compound on Pondfield Road in Bronxville when the future president was 12 years old.

Kennedy was a member of the local Boy Scout Troop 2 and attended dance classes at the Gramatan Ballroom.

First Lady Barbara Bush was raised in Rye and attended Milton School and Rye Country Day School. She married George Bush at First Presbyterian Church in Rye in 1945.

President Bill Clinton and his wife, presidential candidate Hillary Clinton moved to Chappaqua in 1999, in preparation for Hillary's Senate run.

The Clintons can often be spotted at restaurants around town, though lately Hillary has been busy on the campaign trail.

President Barack Obama has made several visits to Westchester. In May 2014, Obama spoke in front of the Tappan Zee Bridge in Tarrytown and called for more federal infrastructure funding.

Later that summer, Obama came back to Westchester where he attended fundraisers in New Rochelle and Purchase before attending his former chef's wedding at Blue Hill at Stone Barns in Pocantico Hills.

Know of a place we missed? A place where George Washington slept perhaps? Let us know on our Facebook page. And happy President's Day.

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