- Courtesy of Bentley Historical Library
- During his commencement speech for the Class of 1964 at Michigan Stadium on May 22, 1964, President Lyndon Baines Johnson unveiled his "Great Society" American revitalization program. Courtesy of the Bentley Historical Library. Buy this photo
By Jillian Berman, Managing News Editor
and Jacob Smilovitz, Editor in Chief
and Kyle Swanson, Daily News Editor
Published February 12, 2010
Over the course of the last century, current and former presidents of the United States have used the University of Michigan — and all it stands for — as a grand stage to launch the policies of tomorrow.
- Courtesy of Michiganensian
- President George H.W. Bush delivered the commencement address at the University of Michigan for the class of 1991 on May 5, 1991. Courtesy of MichiganEnsian
- File Photo/Daily
- Former president Bill Clinton speaks at commencement on April 28, 2007. (File Photo/Daily)
PHOTO SLIDESHOW
Click here for a slideshow of past presidential commencement addresses at the University.In Their Own Words
Read the full text of each president's commencement address by clicking the links below:
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From the Peace Corps to the Great Society to Gerald Ford’s re-election campaign, many of the landmark storylines of 20th-century American history have roots tracing back to speeches in Ann Arbor. The appearances, like almost any remarks given by a president, follow a careful calculus of location, content and tone — even those portrayed as non-political send-offs for graduates.
In the last 50 years, three sitting presidents have visited campus to deliver the University’s annual spring commencement address. It was announced yesterday that
President Barack Obama would become the fourth name on this list as this spring’s commencement speaker. And over the course of its existence, the University has played host to 13 different United States presidents — many on multiple occasions.
But presidential visits to Ann Arbor haven’t been run-of-the-mill campaign stops during which candidates simply shake hands or kiss babies. Many of these presidential visits have involved major national policy announcements with far-reaching implications.
Political Science Prof. Kenneth Kollman said the state of Michigan — and its flagship University — could be the perfect place for such an announcement from President Obama.
"I'm sure he’ll use it as an occasion to make a policy statement and Michigan is certainly a place to talk about transitions from an old economy to a new economy," he said.
When John F. Kennedy stopped in Ann Arbor to spend the night while on the presidential campaign trail, he stood on the steps of the Michigan Union at 2 a.m. on Oct. 14, 1960 to address a crowd of nearly 5,000 students.
Addressing the assembled group, Kennedy encouraged students to give themselves to service in a way that would benefit developing countries — a concept that would lay the foundation for the Peace Corps.
President Lyndon B. Johnson made a similar major policy announcement when he spoke at the University’s 1964 spring commencement. The first sitting United States president to visit the University of Michigan, Johnson’s arrival in Ann Arbor was greeted with much fanfare.
When he arrived on campus on May 22, 1964, he disembarked from one of four identical Marine helicopters outside of Michigan Stadium and was personally welcomed by University President Harlan Hatcher.
Inside the Big House, Johnson was met with the thunderous applause of 80,000 spectators in attendance.
While Johnson came to Ann Arbor for the supposedly non-political affair of delivering the commencement address, according to an article in The Michigan Daily at the time, “his appearance was never free of political overtones and the peculiar mystique which always surround the president of the United States.”
The address would become a seminal moment in 20th-century United States history. From inside Michigan Stadium, Johnson laid out his vision for the Great Society — a series of social programs that the president would push over the course of his years in office that sought to eliminate poverty and reduce social injustice.
“Your imagination and your initiative, and your indignation will determine whether we build a society where progress is the servant of our needs, or a society where old values and new visions are buried under unbridled growth,” Johnson told the crowd.
