Presidential Families Weekend is a series of events throughout President's Day weekend, running Thursday, February 13, through Monday, February 17.
The event is presented by the Key West Harry S. Truman Foundation in partnership with the Society of Presidential Descendants and takes place at the Harry S Truman Little White House, Florida's only presidential museum.
"And you know, a great location to to celebrate the American Presidency."
Clinton Curry is the Executive Director of the Key West Harry S. Truman Foundation, and one of the founders of Presidential Weekend, which started fifteen years ago.
"It was the brainchild of Clifton Truman Daniel, and Margaret Hoover," said Curry.
Curry shared the list of events schedule for throughout the weekend.
"Thursday night, February 13, we have happy hour at Harry's and it's a lovely gathering from 5:30 to 7:30 where we'll have cocktail hours and the signature cocktail of the evening. Attendees will be able to compete in presidential trivia games," he said. "And then Saturday, of course, that is the Presidential Families Forum and this year's type of topic is historic preservation."
The presidential descendants will share information on their descendants, how they worked to preserve certain artifacts or helped cultural information about the about the nation's history.
On Sunday and Monday, Clifton Truman Daniel will perform the play "Give 'em Hell, Harry."
"It's an acclaimed long-running stage production returning here," said Curry. "It's described as a faithful and often humorous portrayal of a one-man-show celebrating the unique persona of President Harry S Truman."
Clifton Truman Daniel is the grandson of President Harry Truman.
"It's the weirdest retirement program anybody's ever come up with," said Daniel, of his portrayal of his grandfather. "People started telling me I looked like my grandfather and that there was a play out there called 'Give 'em Hell, Harry."
The retired journalist found a copy of the play at the Truman Presidential Library in Independence, Missouri, and started learning it.
"It's great to be able to step into his shoes — to dress as him and do the show in the place where he spent 175 days living and working during his presidency," said Daniel.
Daniel is also one of the founders of Presidential Families Weekend and one of the founders of the Presidential Descendants Society. He is instrumental in bringing in the various descendants to the weekend celebration every year.
In addition to Daniel, six other presidential descendants attending this weekend represent presidents Jimmy Carter; Ulysses S. Grant; Dwight Eisenhower; Grover Cleveland, William McKinley; Theodore Roosevelt; and William Taft.
"For me, the best thing about being related to a president is that you know other people related to presidents. We geek out over each other as much as anybody else might geek out over us," said Daniel.
"The fun part for the folks that come to the to Presidential Families Weekend is that you just can hang around and talk to people descended from presidents. And they love it. They have a good time, and they're all lovely folks to talk to," Daniel continued. "So that's a lot of fun. You know, return seven of us loose on the crowd, too."
More Details:
- Presidential Families Weekend is a series of events in celebration of Presidents’ Day Weekend, Thursday, February 13, through Monday, February 17.
- Presented by The Key West Harry S Truman Foundation, in partnership with The Society of Presidential Descendants, at the Harry S Truman Little White House, 111 Front St. in Key West.
- Thursday, Feb 13 Presidents’ Weekend “Harry’s Cocktail and Trivia” event
- 5:30-7:30 p.m., $25 per person includes cocktails from “Harry’s Bar” – including Harry’s signature cocktail, beer, wine, or non-alcoholic beverages; light hors d’oeuvres. Compete in presidential trivia games.
- Proceeds benefit the Key West Harry S Truman Foundation.
Saturday Feb 15 Annual Presidential Descendants Forum
Discussion before a live audience with 2025 Participating Presidential descendants; all members of the Society of Presidential Descendants, a group of individuals with a direct lineage to one or more of the forty-six United States Presidents:
- James Carter, grandson of 39th U.S. President Jimmy Carter;
- Clifton Truman Daniel, grandson of 33rd U.S. President Harry S. Truman;
- Ulysses Grant Dietz, great-great-grandson of 18th U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant (the first president to visit Key West);
- Mary Jean Eisenhower, granddaughter of 34th U.S. President General Dwight D. Eisenhower;
- Massee McKinley, great-great grandson of 22nd and 24th U.S. President Grover Cleveland, and great-great nephew of 25th U.S. President William McKinley;
- Tweed Roosevelt, great-grandson of 26th U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt;
- Patricia Taft, great-granddaughter of 27th U.S. President William Howard Taft.
Festivities are held on the Truman Little White House lawn. Doors and cash bar open at 4 p.m.; forum begins at 4:30. Forum tickets are $40 each for Harry S Truman Foundation members, $60 for non-members.
- Sunday, Feb. 16 and Monday, Feb. 17: the acclaimed long-running stage production ‘Give ‘Em Hell, Harry!’ returns to Key West. 4 p.m. door; 4:30 performance.
- 2-tops: $80 for foundation members, $120 for non-members;
- 4-tops: $160 for members, $240 for non-members.
- Monday, February 17, a family-friendly Presidents’ Day cookout on the beautiful Truman Little White House lawn with hamburgers, veggie burgers, and hotdogs. Admission to the grounds is free. Cookout ticket is $10. Cash bar will also be available; attendees are welcome to bring a picnic blanket.
- Other weekend offerings include guided tours of the Historic Little White House and self-guided botanical lawn tours.
- For tickets and information visit www.trumanlittlewhitehouse.org/foundation/events/
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