I read on Wikipedia that it was on this day in 1902 that Theodore Roosevelt was the first president of the United States to take a ride in an automobile.
Digging a bit deeper I see that in fact that honor goes to William McKinley, who took his ride in a Stanley Steamer in 1900.
What Roosevelt did was use it for publicity purposes, as part of kicking off a public tour of New England. He began it with this momentous ride in a government owned Stanley Steamer through Connecticut.
I admit to some mixed feelings. After all for one thing, this is clearly one of those markers of our turn into the brave new world we currently live in.
And, my goodness, it does open a world of speculation. As a man who once was described as wanting to be the bride at every wedding and the corpse at every funeral, how long did it take Mr Roosevelt to insist on sitting behind the steering wheel?
Whatever, one of those little markers along the great rush of time…
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