Pittsburgh Became the Epicenter of the Presidential Campaign

On the last day of their campaigns for president, both Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump came to Pittsburgh with Harris rallying at the Carrie Blast Furnaces and Trump at PPG Paints Arena.

Pennsylvania was considered a pivotal state in the 2024 presidential election, and the candidates have visited the Commonwealth (and Western Pennsylvania) almost weekly.

That the presidential candidates and their surrogates have made Western Pennsylvania one of their top priorities is not uncommon. Candidates and even sitting presidents have been landing at Allegheny County and Pittsburgh International airports for 75 years.

President Harry Truman was the first sitting president to fly into Pittsburgh, landing at Allegheny County Airport on Sept. 5, 1949, on his way to the Allegheny County Fair.

President Harry S. Truman smiles and waves his hat as he steps from an airplane at AGC for the Allegheny County Fair in Sept. 5, 1949. (Courtesy of Harry S. Truman Library & Museum)

In the nine decades since, presidents who have landed at the airports in Pittsburgh include Jimmy Carter, George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Joe Biden.

The first White House visitor was First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, who landed at Allegheny County Airport in September 1941.

Roosevelt came to meet with Pittsburgh’s African-American leaders, visit a new housing development and speak on behalf of stepped-up defense manufacturing months before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

In more recent years, including this campaign season, candidates favor Pittsburgh International Airport, but Allegheny County Airport has welcomed Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff twice this year, as well as former presidents Bill Clinton and Obama.

Donald Trump’s Boeing 757-200 lands at PIT on July 13, 2024. (Photo by Evan Dougherty)