Analysis: with Joe Biden due in Ireland this month, here's how six other US presidents fared when they disembarked from Air Force One
The Joe show is coming to town! The impending visit of Joe Biden this month has once more whetted Irish appetites for a little presidential preferment. Timed to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the Belfast Agreement, there has been much speculation on Biden’s probable itinerary south of the Border. Famously proud of his Irish roots, journeys to ancestral homes in Mayo and Louth can be expected.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has promised to ‘roll out the red carpet’ for America’s first citizen, in what will be ‘a visit like no other’. An inveterate optimist, Biden likely hopes for a homecoming befitting a local lad who ascended to the Oval Office. However, even he cannot expect the adulation his predecessor John F. Kennedy experienced 60 years ago this coming June. That truly was a time like no other, not least because virtually every presidential visit since has been marked by one constant: protest!
Nixon 1970
Dubbed ‘the forgotten visit’, Richard Nixon’s Irish sojourn in October 1970 was more successful – and more important – than many first surmise. During his two-night stay at Kilrush House in Co. Limerick, his national security advisor, Henry Kissinger, visited from Paris. Kissinger had recently initiated secret meetings with North Vietnamese negotiator, Lê Đức Thọ, aimed at ending the Vietnam War. Nixon’s Irish stay facilitated a briefing with Kissinger, before the president proceeded to London.
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From RTÉ Radio 1's Doc On One, a look at Nixon's visit to Ireland in 1970
Overall, the trip went well. Nixon received a warm welcome while embracing his Quaker roots in Co. Kildare, and stood in his open-topped car to enjoy the bonhomie of crowds lining Dublin streets. However, he had to exhibit quick reflexes, and twice ducked to avoid eggs thrown at him by members of Official Sinn Féin protesting against the Vietnam War.
Reagan 1984
The next US president to visit was Ronald Reagan in June 1984. Some now view Reagan’s trip as part of an Irish governmental chess game, aimed to manoeuvre the British prime minister, Margaret Thatcher, towards what emerged as the Anglo-Irish Agreement of 1985. However, this was not evident to many in the summer of 1984, and Reagan divided opinion amongst Irish politicos.
A Cold War hawk, Reagan’s controversial policy of assisting anti-communist regimes in Central American states prompted an unlikely Irish convergence. Various left-wing activists, conservative religious groupings, and Church leaders opposed the visit. There were memorable events in Galway, where Reagan received an honorary doctorate from the university. Opponents held a ‘de-conferring’ service, and previous recipients burned their parchments. Elsewhere, nuns went on hunger strike, and the Workers’ Party staged a walkout during Reagan’s address to the Oireachtas.
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From RTÉ Archives, Mary Fanning reports for RTÉ News on overcharging claims in Galway and Mayo ahead of Ronald Reagan's visit in 1984
More serious was an attempted attack on Reagan near his ancestral home in Ballyporeen, Co. Tipperary. As he prepared to address the crowd, a man approached him with broken glass. The president was quickly surrounded by his security team, and shielded from the potential assailant.
Clinton 1995, 1998 and 2000
With three presidential trips of his own to Ireland, Bill Clinton arguably obtained a place in Irish hearts second only to JFK. Of his visits, only the September 1998 visit in the aftermath of the Belfast Agreement generated noteworthy opposition. The Socialist Workers’ Party organised a number of protests, with Joe Higgins of the Socialist Party accusing Clinton of ‘nauseating hypocrisy’ given US attacks in Sudan and Afghanistan. The vast majority ignored such concerns, however, and enthusiastically fêted the president.
Bush 2004
Though only a one day visit in June 2004, George W. Bush’s meeting with EU leaders at Dromoland Castle in Co. Clare ignited frenetic opposition. Scapular and sickle once again found common ground, with both Bishop John Kirby and Joe Higgins penning critical articles in the Irish Times. When Bush Came to Shove concerts were organised in protest, and a Green Party TD opined that the ‘crazies have taken over the White House’.
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From RTÉ Archives, Jim Fahy reports for RTÉ News on the anti-war protest that greeted George Bush in Ireland in 2004
One demonstration numbering a few hundred, and carrying a mock ‘arrest warrant’ for Bush, was halted by gardaí a mile from Dromoland Castle. Perhaps they were better off because if they had made it to the venue, they might have viewed an unexpected presidential ‘brief’ as the 43rd president of the US was caught on camera standing at a window in his undershirt. Another frenetic flurry – by the Irish authorities – sought to suppress the image, but not before it had been beamed around the world.
Obama 2011
High in Irish rankings of beloved US presidents, Barack Obama's charisma, photogenic appearance and rockstar-like status, meant his May 2011 visit was overwhelming positive. But, of course, some were displeased. The Garda questioned one al-Qa'ida sympathiser, Khalid Kelly, after he claimed 'Ireland as a perfect place to launch an attack on the President’.
Attempts by some on social networking sites to co-ordinate disruptions during Obama’s speech at College Green also came to little. The exultant crowd of 60,000 who cheered the President’s ‘is feidir linn’ , left protestors with a severe case of ní feidir ‘din’ a dhéanamh.
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Trump 2019
Following Obama, the June 2019 presidential visit of former reality tv star, Donald Trump, elicited a different reaction. Protests were organised countrywide, and the famous ‘Trump Baby’ blimp travelled from London to be flown in Dublin. The largest of the protests occurred in Parnell Square, where a ‘Stand Up to Trump’ rally included more than 30 civil organisations, political parties and voluntary groups.
The most notable dissenters to the anti-Trump wave were the denizens of Doonbeg, Co. Clare, whose hinterland benefited from Trump’s investment in the local resort. Indeed, his sons were warmly welcomed in the locality, especially after they bought every patron in the village a pint. The president was unperturbed by the furore. As one commentator remarked, ‘Trump got what he wanted out of Ireland: two nights B&B and lots of publicity for his hotel’.
And what will face President Biden this month? With People Before Profit announcing its intention to demonstrate, he will experience at least one protest when he arrives. The extent to which it will make an impact on Biden, or on future historians, remains to be seen.
The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent or reflect the views of RTÉ
