Presidential visits
Many public figures have toured the Lab, including several senior government officials.
July 6, 2020
John Moore, Archivist-Historian, and Alan Carr, Senior Historian
On December 7, 1962, President John Kennedy along with Vice President Lyndon Johnson traveled to Los Alamos for a briefing on the details of Project Rover, the Lab's program to develop nuclear rocket engines for space travel. After visiting the Lab, Kennedy address Los Alamos residents at the high school football field and then rode down Central Avenue in a motorcade.
Former Hollywood movie star and future president Ronald Reagan visited Los Alamos in April 1967, when he was governor of California. At that time, the Laboratory was managed entirely by the University of California system.
Gerald Ford visited the Lab on July 12, 1975, shortly before becoming president in August.
Bill Clinton visited twice during his presidency—once on May 13, 1993, and again on February 4, 1998. Here he is with then-Lab Director Sig Hecker (second from right) and others.
