The USS Potomac (AG-25) holds a completely unique place in American naval history, serving as the official presidential yacht for Franklin Delano Roosevelt from 1936 until his death in 1945. Originally built in 1934 as the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Electra, the 165-foot steel-hulled vessel was converted for presidential use after the Secret Service deemed the wooden USS Sequoia a dangerous fire hazard. Affectionately dubbed the "Floating White House" by the press, the ship was extensively modified to accommodate FDR’s wheelchair, including a hand-operated elevator cleverly concealed inside a false smokestack so the president could move between decks privately. The Potomac became a crucial, informal setting for 1930s statecraft; it was where FDR hosted foreign dignitaries like King George VI, signed foundational legislation, and famously used the ship's radio room to deliver one of his wartime "Fireside Chats" to the nation.
Following Roosevelt's death, the ship began a dramatic, decades-long decline that read like a Hollywood crime novel. She passed through various private owners—including the singer Elvis Presley, who briefly bought her in 1964 to donate to a children's hospital—before eventually being seized by U.S. Customs in 1980 for serving as a front for a major drug smuggling ring. While impounded in San Francisco, the neglected vessel's hull breached and she actually sank at her pier. Thankfully, the U.S. Navy refloated her, and the Port of Oakland spearheaded a massive $5 million restoration project to save the historic landmark. Today, the beautifully restored USS Potomac is docked at Jack London Square in Oakland, California, where she operates as a National Historic Landmark, offering dockside tours and educational cruises around the San Francisco Bay.
