FDR's 'Floating White House' is docked in Oakland, and you can still ride it on the bay

Tied up at Jack London Square is one of the strangest presidential artifacts in the country: a 165-foot yacht where Franklin D. Roosevelt fished, held meetings and once broadcast a fireside chat. The USS Potomac has been an Oakland attraction for three decades, and it still leaves the dock with paying passengers.

From cutter to 'Floating White House'

The ship was built in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, as the Coast Guard cutter Electra and commissioned on Oct. 25, 1934. In 1936 it was transferred to the Navy, renamed Potomac and commissioned on March 2 of that year as Roosevelt's presidential yacht. About $60,000 in changes followed. The best known was a false smokestack that hid an elevator, so the president, who used a wheelchair, could move between decks.

The yacht was known informally as the "Floating White House," and Roosevelt used it heavily for fishing trips and informal political meetings. In 1939 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth traveled with the Roosevelts aboard the Potomac to Mount Vernon, the first visit by British royalty to an American president. On March 28, 1941, Roosevelt delivered a fireside chat from the ship's radio room, telling the nation that "the time calls for courage and more courage." On Aug. 3, 1941, the Potomac played a decoy role while Roosevelt slipped away to the secret conference with Winston Churchill that produced the Atlantic Charter.

How it ended up in Oakland

After years of decline under later owners, the ship was restored. According to the USS Potomac Association, a 14-year, $5 million restoration ended with the ship opening to the public at Jack London Square in the summer of 1995. The association says more than 500,000 people have visited since then. The Potomac is a National Historic Landmark. Along with the Sequoia, it is one of only two surviving presidential yachts, and it is the only one open to the public.

Visiting

The association offers dockside tours and narrated bay cruises lasting two to three hours, with seasonal themes. An Elvis tribute cruise runs through Nov. 1, and Santa cruises are scheduled for Dec. 13. Schedules and tickets are on the association's website. The ship is a short walk from the Oakland Amtrak station and the Oakland–San Francisco ferry terminal at Jack London Square.