Willoughby: A presidential visit to Aspen

Candidates for president, especially William Jennings Bryan, came to campaign in Aspen over a century ago. Modern Aspen has had a few come for fundraising. Kennedy and Trump family members vacationed in Aspen. President Trump, long before he ran for president, came as a tourist and entertained locals with his bizarre arrangement of bringing his wife and his paramour at the same time, and in the same hotel, and their crossing paths on the slopes. President Biden came to participate in Aspen Institute events but not during his presidency.

The only president to step foot in our town while he was president was George H. W. Bush in 1990. He came to help celebrate the 40^th anniversary of the Aspen Institute. He shared the bill of celebrities with British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. 

Some locals learned of a pending visit because the Secret Service did a thorough examination of Aspen, so his safety would not be jeopardized. As an example, they visited the hospital, figured out the fastest routes to get there, and gathered the names and positions of all who would be working the days of the visit.

There had only been one other event that had that kind of “visitor” security, when The Empress of Iran visited over the Fourth of July in 1977. She was an honorary trustee and came to attend a Board of Trustees Meeting.

Bush and Thatcher arrived just after Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait and the U.N. vote to demand Saddam Hussain remove his troops from Kuwait. If you don’t remember, this was about oil; taking over Kuwait would have given Iraq about 20% of the world’s oil reserves. And, since it bordered Sadia Arabia, if Hussain took over that country, too, he would have had an additional 50% of the world’s oil reserves.

Thatcher and Bush were building a coalition to force Hussain to retreat. After their speeches for the institute anniversary gathering, they held a news conference. Bush noted that it was a timely visit where they exchanged their views on Kuwait, and he defined Hussain’s invasion as “naked aggression.” Thatcher, in her speech at the anniversary event, talked about the “global community” and the Aspen Institute’s contributions toward building that community.

Bush’s welcome to Aspen was a protest at the first S-turn coming into town. My memory of it, as I was there, was that it was, for Aspen, a fairly large crowd with signs. I do not know who all the organizers were, but I am sure that Nick DeWolf was a central organizer. The event was to signal to the president that diplomacy — not war — would be better.

DeWolf moved to Aspen in the 1970s and became involved in many facets of the community. He was a co-founder of Teradyne, the first tech company to come up with systems for testing computer chips that made them affordable. He, personally, set up computer labs for Aspen Country Day School, Aspen High School, and the Community School. Interested Aspen children were exposed to computers long before others. He rounded up computers and then increased their capability through his home parts supply and “tech lab.” The downtown fountains were another of his creative projects. He created the computer and programed it, so that the fountain spouting cycles would never repeat the same pattern.

Thatcher had planned to stay in Aspen for a few more days but changed her schedule and traveled to Washington to continue meetings with Bush. The U.S. military, with Collin Powell, urged Bush to not attempt a military intervention unless a force of around 500,000 could be employed. The country, and Congress, was about evenly divided over the issue. Months after his visit to Aspen, the amassed troops crossed into Kuwait and drove Hussain’s troops out in a matter of days.

Looking back, it was a uniquely Aspen time: the president of the United States and the British prime minister coming to Aspen to celebrate Aspen’s most prestigious institution at the same time as local anti-war politics taking to the streets.

Tim Willoughby’s family story parallels Aspen’s. He began sharing folklore while teaching at Aspen Country Day School and Colorado Mountain College. Now a tourist in his native town, he views it with historical perspective. Reach him at redmtn2@comcast.net.