While we may know it more for its shopping deals and day off from school, Presidents Day is meant to pay tribute to our nation's leaders.
While Tennessee hasn't been the birthplace of any presidents yet, the state has been considered home for several of our nation's leaders.
The wheels of Air Force One are no stranger to Knoxville. Presidents from John F. Kennedy to Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford have paid a visit during their lifetime.
President Jimmy Carter stopped for a trip to Oak Ridge. President Ronald Reagan made our city a frequent stop during his term, even helping open the 1982 World’s Fair.
President George H.W. Bush visited the University of Tennessee on his campaign trail and the following term Bill Clinton would take his turn with Tennessean Vice President Al Gore.
Their trip in 1996 marked the first time both Air Force One and Air Force Two landed at McGee Tyson Airport on the same day.
Presidential visits to East Tennessee through the years
The younger Bush would come next.
“It was very exciting, any time a president visits even if you don't know them personally it’s an honor to have them come to our city,” said former Knoxville Mayor Victor Ashe. Ashe went to college with President George W. Bush.
Hundreds filled the streets to see the presidential motorcade, a scene that would repeat several years later as President Barack Obama visited in January 2015.
President Donald Trump visited Knoxville many times while he was on the campaign trail before he would be elected the nation's 45th president. He has not visited yet as a sitting president.
Long before our nation's leaders had the luxury of flying, East Tennessee was still on their radar.
At just age 16, Andrew Johnson ran away from home to Greeneville, Tennessee. First a tailor, he would later become governor and then president.
Today, you can visit his historic home site and final resting place.
It's also been said Andrew Jackson often made stops in Knoxville to and from Washington and his home the hermitage in Nashville.
In Harrogate, the Abraham Lincoln library museum on LMU’s campus serves as a reminder of President Lincoln’s life and accomplishments.
Today, the presidential legacy spans more than two centuries.
“Remember they are human beings and have many of the same strengths and weaknesses that all of us have, I think by and large, the people who serve as the leaders of the United States have been dedicated to doing an outstanding job, some have done it better than others, but all caring people,” said Ashe.
Another president with ties to the state is James K. Polk, who served as governor, and lived and is buried in Nashville. It was during his time in office that Tennessee received the official nickname "the Volunteers."