A Democratic president, facing waning popularity, heads into the heart of the country to seek support. He chooses to speak at the state university in Madison ? to be welcomed by thousands of young, eager faces in a bastion of liberal support.The scenario applies to President Barack Obama?s rally on Library Mall on Tuesday, but it also describes the last time a sitting president came to the UW-Madison campus ? 60 years ago. Harry S. Truman was on a 6,400-mile whistle-stop tour through 16 states when he spoke at the Field House on May 14, 1950, in front of a crowd of more than 10,000 people. It was also a midterm election year. Quoted: Jeremi Suri, history professor at UW-Madison.
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