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The scene that unfolded inside a Northport McDonalds might be among the most 80s thing documented and preserved on YouTube.

President Ronald Reagan was fresh off a rollicking rally at the University of Alabama that featured him parading around with the universitys mascot, Big Al. As the presidential motorcade left the area, Reagans entourage stopped at a McDonalds. Inside, the president walked up to the counter and ordered himself lunch that included a Big Mac placed inside a beige Styrofoam container, an order of French fries and a tea.

The total cost: $2.46.

I just thought as long as we had this opportunity, wed do this, Reagan said, during an October 15, 1984, visit that is documented online by the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.

About a quarter-century later, President Barack Obama engaged in a so-called Sweet Tea summit with a host of Republicans including Gov. Bob Riley and Orange Beach Mayor Tony Kennon.

The dining choice for that June 14, 2010, presidential visit was Tacky Jacks Seafood in Orange Beach.

It was right after the beer summit in Washington, D.C., Kennon recently recalled. We said we needed a Sweet Tea summit.

The purpose of the Obama trip was to engage with Alabama officials following the Deepwater Horizon explosion and subsequent oil spill that threatened the Gulf Coasts economy.

Obamas dinner table ordered up crawfish tails, royal reds, fried pickles, crab claws, two seafood salads and the eaterys popular Mexican Garbage with extra cheese.

The tab: $95.80, with tip.

Preserving visits

The two dining experiences, occurring in different eras and under different circumstances, illustrate the unique aspects of a presidential visit to Alabama.

President Joe Biden is scheduled to make an appearance in Alabama on Tuesday to a Lockheed Martin manufacturing plant in Pike County near Troy.

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The purpose of the trip is to highlight the Javelin missile that is built at the Pike County operations. The Javelin is a popular anti-tank device utilized by the Ukrainians to fight off the Russian invasion, now in its third month.

There is no hint that Biden will make any impromptu stops while he is visiting Alabama.

President Ronald Reagan takes a bite out of a Big Mac on Monday, Oct. 15, 1984 in Northport, Alabama, after addressing the students at the University of Alabama. On his way to the airport, the President decided to satisfy his hunger with a stop at McDonalds. (AP Photo/Lana Harris)ASSOCIATED PRESS

Neither Reagans McDonalds stop nor Obamas visit to Tacky Jacks were pre-advertised, but both events did not happen on a whim. The U.S. Secret Service inquired about possible restaurants in Orange Beach ahead of Obamas visit, eventually landing on Tacky Jacks. Reagans visit occurred hours after Secret Service agents arrived to the McDonalds and began scoping out the scene, according to a 2006 account by the late Tuscaloosa News journalist Tommy Stevenson, the only local reporter at the restaurant that day.

Both events, however, created memories that are long-lasting. At the since-renovated McDonalds in Northport is a bronze bust of the Gipper inside a glass case near the restaurants bathrooms. The display also includes a picture of Reagan eating his Big Mac with a plaque that reads, President Reagan ate here.

At Tacky Jacks is a framed newspaper article that commemorated Obamas visit.

It was during a time of very severe uncertainty, said Ken Kichler, CFO of Tacky Jacks, who recalls restaurant employees becoming aware of the presidents visit 15 minutes before the motorcade arrived.

Our businesses were impacted, Kichler said. We were struggling with working through the federal relief program, and we believed the visit was very helpful in getting the Alabama Gulf Coast the help it needed from the government at the time.

In the years to come, the Alabama Gulf Coast Recovery Council was formed, and subsequent settlements with BP resulted in billions of dollars funneled into the state. Money is still being allocated to this day on environmental-related projects through the Recovery Council.

Jess Brown, a retired political science professor at Athens State University and a longtime observer of Alabama state politics, said that presidential visits to Alabama because of the changing nature of the media over the years have increasingly been staged to be national news.

He noted that Bidens visit is simply to highlight the Javelin manufacturing at Lockheed Martin.

Alabama, since at least President John F. Kennedys famed visit to Huntsville, has been an attractive stopping point for presidents. Selma bridge crossings, for instance, have drawn large crowds and presidential entourages: Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Obama have all paid visits to the Edmund Pettus Bridge.

Tuskegee University has also been a popular spot for presidential visits. The university has been welcoming presidents since William McKinleys 1898 visit. The most recent presidential visit to Tuskegee was in 2006, where President George W. Bush visited with students who were researching nanotechnology prompting his call of Congress to offer permanent tax credits for businesses that invest in research and development.

Kennedy tours the George C. Marshall Space Flight Center, 1962 and 1963

President John F. Kennedy visits Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Ala., on May 18, 1963.

With global space race well underway, Kennedy made two stops to Huntsville where he toured the flight center at Redstone Arsenal. The first occurred on September 11, 1962. The second visit occurred on May 18, 1963, nearly six months before his assassination in Dallas.

Kennedys second visit was part of an Armed Forces Day celebration. He delivered a speech before 10,000 members of the arsenals workforce.

Earlier in the day, Kennedy visited the Tennessee Valley Authority and delivered a speech in Muscle Shoals.

Huntsville was not as big as it is today, Brown said, referring to a city that had a population of 76,000 people in 1960 (todays population is over 215,000 residents). That was a big deal when the president came to our state. He was making a commitment that in this decade (the 1960s), well put a man safely on the moon.

Former Huntsville Mayor Loretta Spencer, in a 2013 interview with WAFF-TV, recalled the Kennedy visits as memorable because of the presidents support of the space race.

JFK believed in the space program, and he wanted us to be the first in some recognitions because it was great for a leadership of a country to be able to brag on the brain power and the effort that does into things, Spencer told the TV station.

JFKs Huntsville visit is seen as a key moment that solidified the city as the Rocket City and cemented the presidents relationship with Dr. Wernher von Braun over their shared goal of landing a man on the moon.

Storm damage

Touring storm damage

President Barack Obama with his wife Michelle toured the massive tornado devastation in Tuscaloosa and Holt Elementary School Friday April 29, 2011. The President was joined by a large number of state officials. President Obama With Gov. Robert Bentley (center ) and wife Dianne on a tour of Tuscaloosa tornado damage. (Joe Songer).

A common presidential visit to Alabama is whenever a storm causes widespread devastation.

A few visits stand out in recent years:

President Bill Clinton, during an April 15, 1998, visit, surveys the storm damage in Pratt City after deadly tornadoes swept through Birmingham, Ala. (file photo)

President Jimmy Carter visits Mobile to survey damage from Hurricane Frederic on September 19, 1979. (Press-Register archives)

Reagan revolution

Reagan was serenaded with large crowds and happy Republicans in the 80s during his multiple visits to the state.

He is also the only U.S. President to deliver a speech before a joint session of the Alabama Legislature.

That occurred on March 15, 1982 and allowed Reagan to lay out his economic and public positions of less federal government intrusion, and more attention paid to state and local affairs.

President Ronald Reagan gives a speech before a joint session of the Alabama Legislature on March 15, 1982, in Montgomery, Ala. Governor Fob James and Lieutenant Governor George McMillan are sitting behind Reagan. For the full text of the speech, visit: https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40019737

He received a rousing applause for citing his administrations interests in completing the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway project and shared a story about visiting a University of Alabama football practice coached by famed Paul Bear Bryant wearing a tuxedo.

Reagan said he had to go to a black-tie affair immediately after attending the practice.

I dont think its ever happened before, Reagan said about his attire at a Bryant-coached practice. To make it worse, it was raining.

Reagan also made a crucial visit to Montgomery before the 1986 elections. A New York Times headlines of that September 18, 1986, visit reads, Reagans visit Lifts Alabama GOP.

Reagan was in Montgomery to rally in support of Jeremiah Dentons Senate candidacy. Denton, a Republican, narrowly lost that Novembers election to conservative Democrat Richard Shelby

Ive been to this great state so often Ive been thinking of having Air Force One wired to play, Sweet Home Alabama, Reagan said.

Brown said that Reagans presidency coincided as the Republican Party began its ascension in Alabama. Shelby would switch political affiliations about eight years later, in 1994.

By the time Reagan came along, the Republican Party was in its formative time and early stages of becoming the dominate party in the state, Brown said. It had a lot of energy at that time. Reagan realized that. He did generate huge crowds.

Trump and the NFL

Alabama state Republican Senator Luther Strange walks to embrace President Donald Trump during the senator's rally at the Von Braun Civic Center September 22, 2017 in Huntsville, Alabama. -(Photo by BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)AFP via Getty Images

Trumps visit to Lee County to inspect the tornado-ravaged communities was among the very few trips he made while he served in the Oval Office.

Trump, who enjoyed strong support in presidential elections in Alabama, drew large crowds during campaign events and rallies, including one that occurred last year in Cullman. The most notable rallies occurring pre-2016 election were in Mobile and Madison.

Trumps most memorable Alabama appearance as president occurred on September 22, 2017, in Huntsville. Trump made an appearance in support of former Senator Luther Stranges campaign against then-Republican frontrunner Roy Moore.

The appearance occurred before the GOP runoff, which Moore won before he lost the Dec. 12, 2017, general election against Doug Jones.

Trump, during his speech, famously quipped that NFL owners should fire players who kneel during the National Anthem. The remarks sparked backlash among professional athletes, among others. On-field protests continue to this day.

Other notable appearances

President Gerald Ford, right, tries on the houndstooth hat that was handed to him by Alabama football coach Paul "Bear" Bryant, left, as Ford arrived for a visit in Mobile on Sept. 26, 1976. Not only did Bryant give Ford his famous hat to wear, he endorsed him for re-election. "Now we're out past midfield and headed for the other goal," said Bryant in his political pitch. (file photo)

Former First Lady Laura Bush, left to right, former President George W. Bush, First Lady Michelle Obama, President Barack Obama and U.S. Congressman John Lewis listen to speakers at the foot of the Edmund Pettus Bridge Saturday, March 7, 2015, during the 50th Anniversary Commemoration of Bloody Sunday in Selma, Ala. (file photo)

President George W. Bush signs autographs for Alabama State Parks workers during Thursday's speech at Oak Mountain State Park during a visit in June 2001. (file photo).

Increased polarization

While most presidential visits, over time, have featured a bipartisan coalition of guests, an increasing amount of criticism has been directed at presidents who are venturing into a state controlled by politicians of the opposite party.

Obama, for instance, was criticized for touring the Tuscaloosa tornado damage in what some said was a diversion of attention from the cleanup and recovery activity that was underway.

At Tacky Jacks in 2010, Kennon said he was frustrated with what he felt was starting off to be a photo op for the Democratic president.

It hacked me off, Kennon said. I said we need to sit down and have a talk.

President Barack Obama sits with Orange Beach Mayor, Tony Kennon during an unannounced visit to Tacky Jack's, a restaurant in Orange Beach, Ala., as he visits the Gulf Coast region affected by the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill Monday, June 14, 2010. (file photo)

The dinner last for about an hour. Kichler, Tacky Jacks CFO, said that Obama also spent time meeting with Tacky Jacks employees and diners who were at the restaurant.

Kennon, who was seated next to Obama, said he can remember snipers on the building, adding that its an eerie feeling to have someone with a scope rifle (aimed) at your back.

But the dinner went on without any incident, as Obama dined with the Republican politicians.

Biden likely will not have a similar chance to do so. Alabamas Republican politicians have confirmed in recent days that they will not be at Tuesdays event at Lockheed Martin.

In other words, dont expect a Sweet Tea Summit repeat.

The whole political environment has become so rancid that people cant just be respectful and show some degree of common decency, Brown said. This (visit) doesnt have anything to do with electoral politics in Alabama. It has to do with the president wanting to highlight weapons of the Defense Department designed to help the people in Ukraine.

Link:
Big Macs and Tacky Jacks: Revisiting memorable presidential visits to Alabama - AL.com