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The uss sequoia.

US Navy, 2009.

The USS Sequoia is a former presidential yacht used by nine U.S. Presidents between 1931 and 1977—Herbert C. Hoover, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard M. Nixon, Gerald R. Ford, and Jimmy Carter. It was the setting for the social, recreational, and official activities of these Presidents and remains a floating symbol of the office of the President of the United States. The USS Sequoia was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1987 because of the role it played as the setting for important political, diplomatic, and social activities of numerous presidents. 

A Presidential Career 

During its 46 years of service, Sequoia was the setting for not only presidential recreation, but also for domestic and foreign policy meetings and crucial international decisions.  

Sequoia was first designated as the Presidential yacht by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933 and was actively used during his first term in office. In 1935, President Roosevelt replaced the USS Sequoia with the USS Potomac because of Sequoia’s smaller size and because its wooden construction was a potential fire hazard. The Sequoia still remained in regular use both politically and recreationally, however.  

President Harry S. Truman hosted a post-World War II conference with the leaders of Great Britain and Canada on the Sequoia where they discussed the exchange of nuclear weapons technology. President John F. Kennedy used the vessel frequently, including for his last birthday celebration before he was assassinated in 1963. President Lyndon B. Johnson lobbied congressmen aboard the yacht, gaining support for efforts including his “Great Society” programs.  

It was toward the end of President Johnson’s term in office that Sequoia was once again made the official presidential yacht. President Richard M. Nixon used Sequoia more frequently than any of his predecessors, often conducting extensive foreign policy meetings onboard. Notably, the Sequoia was where Nixon made his decision to withdraw from the War in Vietnam. He also used the vessel as a retreat from the Watergate crisis. Nixon’s successor, President Gerald R. Ford, used the vessel for numerous social occasions, including a reception in honor of the Apollo/Soyuz astronauts. 

The Voyage to an NHL Designation 

Ultimately, it was President Jimmy Carter who decided to dispose of USS Sequoia and sell the yacht as a part of his efforts to have a less “extravagant” presidency. On May 18, 1977, the USS Sequoia was sold at public auction to a private owner. The vessel had a series of private owners and underwent a 1977-1978 rehabilitation.  

Sequoia was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1987, as a space used by the presidential office for politics, diplomacy, and social events for almost five decades. It was also witness to some of the most important decisions and actions of United State’s leaders in the last 100 years. 

Since 1987, the Sequoia has passed through the hands of several private owners and has served various purposes. Today (2024), the USS Sequoia is privately owned and is undergoing restoration with the goal of reopening the vessel for public access.  

USS Sequoia National Historic Landmark National Historic Landmarks (NHLs) are historic places that possess exceptional value in commemorating or illustrating the history of the United States. The National Park Service’s National Historic Landmarks Program oversees the designation of such sites. There are just over 2,500 National Historic Landmarks. All NHLs are also listed in the National Register of Historic Places . 

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Last updated: July 10, 2024

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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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Where Is The Presidential Yacht Sequoia Today?

The former US Presidential yacht Sequoia, a 104-foot-long, 90-plus-year-old floating piece of presidential history, has returned to Cambridge, Maryland after four years of being transported to Maine for reconstruction and restoration. The yacht, designed by John Trumpy and built by John H. Mathis, is now in the care of a boat shop in Belfast. The 31.9-meter historic vessel, registered as a National Historic Landmark, was last seen in Cambridge in 2019 while in transit from Washington, D.C., to Maine. The 104-foot yacht will be stationed in a city-owned parking lot near Belfast Harbor.

The Sequoia was last seen in Cambridge in 2019 while in transit from Washington, D.C., to Maine, where renovation work was originally planned. The 93-year-old yacht arrived in Cambridge without incident on Monday, marking the return of the iconic yacht to the state. The yacht was once a private retreat for U.S. presidents and used to host diplomatic and political functions.

The ambitious plan to restore the Sequoia is expected to begin by next spring, nearly four years behind its original destination. The yacht was last seen in Cambridge in 2019 while in transit from Washington, D.C., to Maine.

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Debbie Green

I am a school teacher who was bitten by the travel bug many decades ago. My husband Billy has come along for the ride and now shares my dream to travel the world with our three children.The kids Pollyanna, 13, Cooper, 12 and Tommy 9 are in love with plane trips (thank goodness) and discovering new places, experiences and of course Disneyland.

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