Some would say there was a certain poetic justice in his fall. His inability as president, and as a particularly weak president to boot, to hold the union together ultimately resulted in the rebel army's visit to York County in late June 1863.

The very bridge where he slipped on itself slipped into the Susquehanna River after Union troops torched it to stop the Confederates from crossing.

After his fall, Buchanan returned through York "in excellent health and fine spirits," a newspaper reported.

Too bad, many Americans then believed, that he didn't depart from office with his country in similar circumstances.

Here's a sampling of York County visits by America's chief executives before, during or after their terms of office:

George Washington - In a 1791 visit, the president worshipped at the German Reformed Church on West Market Street. “. . . I went to hear morning Service performed in the Dutch reformed Church, which, being in that language, not a word of which I understood, I was in no danger of becoming a proselyte to its religion by the eloquence of the Preacher." Passing through York County in 1794 after addressing the Whiskey Rebellion, the president experienced an uneasy Susquehanna River crossing: “. . . I rode yesterday afternoon thro’ the rain from York Town to this place, and got twice in the height of it hung (and delayed by that means) on the rocks in the middle of the Susque-hanna. . . .”

John Adams - The president sharply criticized York during his brief stay as a member of the Continental Congress in 1777-78. Turning the other cheek in 1800, York residents gave the then-president of the United States a warm reception in an overnight stop. In addressing residents, Adams noticed growth in businesses, residences and cultivated farmland since his last visit: “In return for your kind wishes, I pray for the confirmation and extensions to you and your posterity of every blessing you enjoy."

Andrew Jackson - In 1819, before his presidential years, the noted general complained about an overcharge. Jackson lost his temper when informed he owed $50 to Cornelius Garrettson for conveying him from the Shrewsbury area to York in a sled. Jackson countered with $30, which Garrettson accepted. Still, Jackson received a warm reception in York from residents seeking a glimpse of the Battle of New Orleans.

Martin Van Buren - This unpopular president, blamed for the Panic of 1837, spent a quiet night in the White Hall Hotel, now the National House, in 1839. He declined a public reception to avoid ostentation at a time when the country was suffering financial hardship.

Abraham Lincoln - On his way to Gettysburg for his famous address in 1863, Lincoln’s train paused in Hanover after he had changed trains at Hanover Junction. “Father Abraham," someone called out, “your children want to hear you.” The president emerged from his car. “Well, you have seen me," Lincoln said, “and according to general experience, you have seen less than you expected to see." Two years earlier, Lincoln’s train, without Lincoln aboard, paused in York. Lincoln had been rerouted because of a suspected assassination plot. His absence disappointed a large York crowd. In 1865, Lincoln’s body was aboard his touring funeral train when it stopped in York. Within earshot of a Philadelphia Inquirer reporter, an elderly black man proclaimed, “He was crucified for us."

U.S. Grant - A defective locomotive caused this newly elected president to stop in Hanover on the way to Gettysburg in 1868. In remarks to a gathering, he praised the performance of Union commanders in the Battle of Gettysburg. The visit marked the former commander of Union forces’ first visit to Gettysburg.

Theodore Roosevelt - The president’s 1906 visit made county news when The York Dispatch published a rare front-page photo. This marked one of the last times - if not the last time - the Dispatch would depart from a gray, eight-column front page without photos for the next 82 years. The image of another U.S. president, George Bush, prompted a front-page photo in 1988. Roosevelt, just back from dedicating the new capitol building in Harrisburg, rode in an open carriage from York’s Centre Square to the fairgrounds where he touted York’s growing prosperity.

Harry S. Truman - Senator Truman came to York in early 1944, criticizing defense industry “chiselers” who were using the war to their advantage. He commended the county for its support of the war. “You are accepting minor privations, willingly, smilingly and bravely,” he said. He sidestepped a question about his interest in the vice presidency by stating at a York County Democratic banquet, “A statesman is only a dead politician, and I want to live a long time yet.”


John F. Kennedy - As a presidential candidate in 1960, Kennedy spoke before a crowd of 4,500 people at the York Fair. He watched a harness race with former state Gov. George M. Leader and purchased a brick at the Salvation Army tent for $1. The brick sale helped to build a new citadel in York.

Lyndon B. Johnson - The president and his wife, Lady Bird, keynoted the Dallastown Centennial on Sept. 4, 1966. Congressman N. Neiman Craley Jr., served as grand marshal of a parade to celebrate the borough's 100th anniversary, where President Johnson spoke.

Richard M. Nixon - In 1946, when Nixon was first elected to the U.S. House, Nixon’s parents moved to a Menges Mills farm. Their famous son visited them several times. Nixon visited Staub’s Drug Store in Hanover in 1968. The owner later wrote for - and received - Nixon’s autograph. Jake Thomas was proud of the signature. “Then after Watergate, Jake never mentioned it much," Abigail, his wife, said. Nixon also visited his namesake park near Jacobus in 1988. He donated $5,000 to the park after his visit and regularly contributed funds until his death in 1994.

Gerald Ford - In September 1979, Ford, three years past his defeat at the hands of Jimmy Carter, was traveling the country on a speaking tour - unofficially testing the waters for another presidential run that never materialized - and York College was one of his stops.

Ronald Reagan - The president toured Harley-Davidson’s plant in Springettsbury Township in 1987. Matt Gladfelter, then a student journalist at Central High School, covered the event. “When he spoke, everybody was quiet," Gladfelter recalled. “He just had a way of being able to connect with people and draw them to whatever he had to say." He did not get on a chopper.

George H.W. Bush - The president was the main attraction at a political fund-raiser in Monaghan Township, in northern York County. His efforts raised $800,000 for U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter's campaign. The president endorsed Specter and with the statement, "This is not a normal kind of endorsement. I really mean it."

Bill Clinton - York became the Democratic nominee’s first campaign stop in 1992. An estimated crowd of 3,000 awaited him at 10:15 p.m. In his memoirs, Clinton placed the rally at a much later time. “On the first day," Clinton wrote, “we worked our way through eastern and central Pennsylvania, reaching our last stop, York, at 2 a.m." He continued: “Thousands of people had waited up for us. Al (Gore) gave his best 2 a.m. version of the stump speech. I did the same, and then we shook supporters’ hands for the better part of an hour before the four of us collapsed for a few hours sleep." During his speech, Clinton showed he had done his homework on local history. “This community was once the capital of this great country," he said. “In this community reside the values and the spirit we must return to the present capital." Political analyst Terry Madonna contrasted two presidential visits to Harley: In 1987, Ronald Reagan, a Republican free trader, visited and spoke on how well Harley resurged under protective tariffs. In 1999, Clinton, a Democrat, visited and paid tribute to the company’s success in free trade. In that visit, President Clinton declined to hop aboard a bike.

George W. Bush - In a visit to Harley-Davidson in 2006, President Bush got board a hawg, unlike his predecessors Reagan and Clinton. President Bush sought - and gained - permission from Joel Toner to start a Harley. Bush observed that Toner had a cool job. Toner said: "I agreed and said, ‘Yeah, I think I got one of the greatest jobs in the world.’ ”