Freedom 250th Grand Prix in DC

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This weekend is the Freedom 250 Grand Prix of Washington DC, an event celebrating America’s 250th year. When I first heard about this car race, I immediately thought about the first time that Washington was the site of an automobile speedway. Automobile lovers President William Howard Taft and his wife Helen “Nellie" Taft turned the swampy Potomac Park into a speedway, which was later beautified with cherry trees. This was one of the fun facts that I discovered when I served on President Bush's White House website team.

In 2001, I knew that websites were new. Broadband was becoming a reality slowly but surely. Because of this, I found myself drawn to other stories in history when presidents embraced new technologies. For example, President Theodore Roosevelt was the first president to go under water in a submarine while his cousin President Franklin Roosevelt was the first to appear on a TV at the world’s fair. Today, I’m still drawn to some new technologies. I used AI generative technology to convert public domain black and white images into full color images for this article.

In 1909 President Taft became the first president to rely on automobiles instead of horse-drawn carriages. He even used his automobile steam valve to avoid the press.

Taft established the first official White House automobile fleet through a $12,000 congressional appropriation. Converting the presidential stables into a garage, he purchased four cars: a 1909 White Model M Steam Car, two Pierce-Arrow limousines, and a Baker Electric.

The White House Motor Fleet

• Taft's 1909 White Model M Steamer was his personal favorite. This automobile featured 40 horsepower, leather seats, and a seven-passenger capacity.
• Pierce-Arrows: Two large, luxurious gasoline-powered touring limousines, these Pierce Arrows were used for official state functions and family outings.
• Baker Electric: A quiet, clean electric car frequently used by the first lady.

President Taft loved his 1909 White Model M Steamer. While driving through Washington, DC, Taft often used bursts of steam from his car’s release valve to send press photographers and crowds running away from him.

First Lady Nellie Taft also enjoyed riding their automobiles. She loved the drive around Potomac Park so much that she turned it into aspeedway along the Potomac River and the Tidal Basin. The speedway was the best place for automobiles to drive fast without horse-drawn carriages.

Nellie also loved cherry blossom trees, which she’d seen in Japan when President Roosevelt sent her and her husband to Asia. As first lady, Nellie transformed this speedway and other Washington DC spaces by adding a bandstand and landscaped parkways as well as planting Japanese cherry trees.

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