President George H.W. Bush landed at Meadows Field Airport on July 14, 1992 — in the middle of his unsuccessful re-election bid that year — and took a helicopter to Sequoia National Forest to make a declaration protecting the area’s Giant Sequoia groves “as unique objects of beauty and antiquity for the benefit and inspiration of all people.” In this photo he leaves Air Force One with then Congressman Bill Thomas, R-Bakersfield,in preparation for his trip to the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
In this file photo, President Bill Clinton gives a thumbs up as he steps off Air Force One at Meadows Field on April 15, 2000.
Californian file photo
President Bill Clinton made a similar journey to Kern County on April 15, 2000. In the photo he is shown coming off Air Force One at Meadows Field Airport just before he boarded a helicopter for the flight up to visit the same Giant Sequoia trees. Clinton, that day, formally created the Giant Sequoia National Monument.
In this file photo from March 2004, a little girl tries to get President George W. Bush's attention as the president stops along his motorcade route to shake hands with schoolchildren. President Bush's visit to Bakersfield came during the beginning of his re-election bid.
Henry A. Barrios / The Californian
On March 4, 2004, the second President Bush, George W. Bush, came to Bakersfield in a campaign stop where he visited the Rain-4-Rent business and talked economic and immigration policy in the midst of his own run for re-election against John Kerry. Unlike his father, Bush won his second race. This photo was shot when President Bush jumped out of his vehicle at North Beardsley Elementary School to shake hands with the school children lining the road. A special note: both Presidents Bush lived in Bakersfield for a few months early in the younger George’s life while George H.W. Bush worked in the oil industry locally.
President Barack Obama helps Helen Chavez as they walk up the stairs to Helen's late husband and UFW co-founder Cesar Chavez's gravesite to place a rose. President Obama was at La Paz in Keene, Calif., to announce the establishment of the Cesar E. Chavez National Monument. At left is Paul Chavez, Cesar's son, third from left is Arturo Rodriguez, UFW president and at right is Dolores Huerta, UFW co-founder.
Henry A. Barrios / The Californian
On October 8, 2012, President Barack Obama landed at Meadows Field and drove by motorcade up Highway 58 to Nuestra Senora De La Paz, the national headquarters of the United Farm Workers Union in Keene. He visited the grave of union co-counder Cesar Chavez and placed a rose on his grave. This photo shows Obama helping Chavez’s widow, Helen Chavez, up to the gravesite flanked by their son Paul Chavez, and followed by UFW President Arturo Rodriguez and UFW co-founder Dolores Huerta.