President Richard Nixon visits Prospect High School in October of 1970.
Daily Herald file photo
Chicago and its suburbs have played host to numerous presidential campaigns over the last few decades. Our Daily Herald photo archives reveal that the first president the paper covered was Richard Nixon visiting Prospect High School in 1970. Other presidential candidates stumping through Chicago and the suburbs included Ted Kennedy at Notre Dame High School in Niles, and Eugene McCarthy visiting Woodfield and Randhurst shopping malls, both in 1972. Then President Gerald Ford appeared at Buffalo Grove High School in March of 1976, while 1976 presidential candidate Jimmy Carter made a stop at the O'Hare Hilton a month earlier in February. The March 1980 campaign trail brought republican presidential hopefuls George H.W. Bush to the Drake Hotel in Chicago, and Ronald Reagan to the shuttered iconic Lancer Steak House in Schaumburg.
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President Richard Nixon visits Prospect High School in October of 1970.
Daily Herald file photo
Democratic candidate for president Ted Kennedy on the campaign trail at Notre Dame High School in Niles, in October of 1972.
Daily Herald file photo
President Richard Nixon visits Prospect High School in October of 1970.
Daily Herald file photo
President Richard Nixon visits Prospect High School in October of 1970.
Daily Herald file photo
A photographer covers President Richard Nixon visiting the Northwest Suburbs in 1972.
Daily Herald file photo
President Richard Nixon visits Prospect High School in October of 1970.
Daily Herald file photo
President Richard Nixon arrives at Prospect High School in October of 1970.
Daily Herald file photo
Democratic candidate for President Eugene McCarthy campaigns at Randhurst Mall in April of 1972.
Daily Herald file photo
Democratic candidate for President Eugene McCarthy campaigns at Randhurst Mall in April of 1972.
Daily Herald file photo
Democratic candidate for President Eugene McCarthy campaigns at Randhurst Mall in April of 1972.
Daily Herald file photo
Democratic candidate for President Eugene McCarthy campaigns at Woodfield Mall in March of 1972.
Daily Herald file photo
Democratic candidate for President Eugene McCarthy campaigns at Woodfield Mall in March of 1972.
Daily Herald file photo
Democratic candidate for President Eugene McCarthy campaigns at Woodfield Mall in March of 1972.
Daily Herald file photo
Democratic candidate for President Eugene McCarthy campaigns at Woodfield Mall in March of 1972.
Daily Herald file photo
Democratic candidate for president Jimmy Carter makes a campaign stop at the O'Hare Hilton in February of 1976.
Daily Herald file photo
Democratic candidate for president Jimmy Carter makes a campaign stop at the O'Hare Hilton in February of 1976.
Daily Herald file photo
Democratic candidate for president Jimmy Carter makes a campaign stop at the O'Hare Hilton in February of 1976.
Daily Herald file photo
Democratic candidate for president Jimmy Carter makes a campaign stop at the O'Hare Hilton in February of 1976.
Daily Herald file photo
President Gerald Ford makes a campaign stop at Buffalo Grove High School in March of 1976.
Daily Herald file photo
President Gerald Ford makes a campaign stop at Buffalo Grove High School in March of 1976.
Daily Herald file photo
Presidential candidate Alabama Governor George Wallace makes a campaign stop at O'Hare Airport in January of 1976.
Daily Herald file photo
Presidential candidate George Bush makes a campaign stop at the Drake Hotel in Chicago, March 1980.
Daily Herald file photo
Presidential candidate Ronald Reagan visits The Lancer Steak House in Schaumburg while on the campaign trail in March of 1980.
Daily Herald file photo
Presidential candidate Ronald Reagan visits The Lancer Steak House in Schaumburg while on the campaign trail in March of 1980.
Daily Herald file photo