Union Terminal has been the site of numerous campaign stops.

Since its opening in 1933, Union Terminal has been the site of numerous campaign stops by U.S. presidents, vice-presidents and presidential candidates. They include:

Joe Biden

October 12, 2020

Former Vice President and 2020 presidential candidate Joe Biden held a scaled down campaign event at Union Terminal to encourage voters to vote early and make their voices heard during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Hillary Clinton

June 27, 2016

Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton conducted a campaign rally at Union Terminal after attending a fundraiser in Cincinnati the night before. She was joined by Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren.

clinton and warren

Mitt Romney

September 1, 2012

Romney chose Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal to be the site of his first rally as the Republican Party's official presidential candidate.

romney at ut

Joe Biden

September 24, 2008

In the Grand Rotunda, Senator Joe Biden, the Democratic vice presidential nominee, delivered a policy speech making the case for the Obama-Biden ticket in the key battleground state of Ohio.

Barack Obama

February 26, 2008

Democratic presidential hopeful Senator Barack Obama held a conversation with seniors on health care and health insurance in the Losantiville Café.

obama losantiville

John Kerry

September 8, 2004

In a campaign speech in the Rotunda, Senator John Kerry, the Democratic presidential nominee, challenged the Bush administration's direction in the Iraq war.

George W. Bush

October 7, 2002

In the Rotunda, President George W. Bush makes his case for the war effort in Iraq.

gw bush union terminal

Dan Quayle

April 29, 1991

A last-minute visit to Union Terminal was added to Vice President Quayle’s agenda in August 1991. Ohio Governor George Voinovich accompanied the vice president on a quick tour of the Cincinnati Goes to War exhibit in the Cincinnati History Museum, which had opened 10 days earlier.

Dwight D. Eisenhower

September 22, 1952

Traveling in an 18-car campaign train, presidential candidate Eisenhower arrived at 7 p.m. Senator Bob Taft and other prominent Republicans met him on the train platform. In the Rotunda, a band and hundreds of supporters with "We Want Ike" signs greeted him. A 40-car motorcade made the trip to Music Hall, where he gave a speech.

Harry S. Truman's multiple visits

July 5, 1948
Truman strolled through Union Terminal while his 14-car special train was being serviced.

October 11, 1948
Truman's Whistlestop Campaign through Ohio began in Cincinnati. Truman’s train took him to 10 Ohio cities in one day. The Cincinnati stop featured breakfast in the Netherland Plaza’s Hall of Mirrors. The crowd numbered 2,000 and included Democratic Party leaders and campaign workers.

November 4, 1948
Truman's "Victory Special" train stopped for 30 minutes at Union Terminal. This trip was immediately after the 1948 presidential election, which Truman won despite predictions he would lose to New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey. Truman gave a two-minute speech.

October 31, 1952
Truman gave a speech at Music Hall.

December 7, 1952
Truman purchased a copy of the Cincinnati Enquirer at Union Terminal while his train was being serviced. He was on his way to Independence to attend his mother-in-law’s funeral.

truman union terminal

Wendell Wilkie

October 16, 1940

After arriving by train at 7:30 p.m., presidential candidate Wendell Wilkie was taken to Crosley Field, where he gave a speech to a crowd of at least 15,000. That speech was broadcast to the nation. His day began in Kent, Ohio, and then the train traveled to Mansfield, Marion, Springfield, Dayton and Hamilton before arriving in Cincinnati. Initial plans called for Wilkie to also speak at Union Terminal before the main event at Crosley, but there was not sufficient time, so the talk was cancelled.

Franklin D. Roosevelt

October 16, 1936

FDR arrived at Union Terminal in an 11-car special train at 10 a.m., its scheduled arrival time. Arrangements called for the president to ride in a seven-passenger car with the top down, but a steady rain prohibited that. The car belonged to Mrs. William Cooper Procter. The car held the president, Ohio Governor Martin L. Davey, Mrs. Roosevelt, Charles Sawyer (Democratic National Committeeman), Mrs. Procter’s chauffeur, Martin Reddington and one Secret Service man. At the end of his Cincinnati visit, FDR boarded his train at the Winton Place station.

Other Visits
Joe Biden

September 24, 2008

Senator Joe Biden, candidate for U.S. vice president, conducted a rally on foreign policy in the Rotunda.

Laura Bush

October 11, 2006

First Lady Laura Bush spoke at Cincinnati Museum Center at a fundraising event supporting Congressman Steve Chabot. As a part of the visit, she toured The Children’s Museum and a special exhibit by children commemorating the 9/11 tragedy.

Thomas Dewey

October 12, 1948

The Dewey presidential campaign train stopped at Union Terminal from 5:55 to 7 a.m. This was a layover on a trip from Pittsburgh to Lexington. Dewey reportedly slept during the layover and made no public appearance.