The Remarkable Story of Oakland's USS Potomac

FDR’s Presidential Yacht With a Second Life

Before it became known as The Floating White House, the USS Potomac began its life far more humbly. Commissioned in 1934 as the USCG Cutter Electra, it wasn’t built for ceremony—it was built to chase rumrunners. Fast, maneuverable, and 165 feet long, the Electra patrolled the coast intercepting smugglers trying to slip illegal liquor into the country.

Everything changed two years later. After the Secret Service declared the existing presidential yacht, the wooden-hulled USS Sequoia, a fire risk, the Navy needed a sturdier, safer replacement. The Electra was chosen, renamed the USS Potomac in 1936, and sent to Manitowoc Shipbuilding Company for a substantial refit. Over $60,000 went into the upgrade—bulletproof glass, redesigned presidential quarters, improved communications, and interior changes tailored to Franklin D. Roosevelt’s needs.

The Potomac quickly became one of FDR’s favorite escapes. He used it for fishing trips, informal strategy sessions, and one particularly famous cover operation. In August 1941, after hosting guests aboard off the coast of Massachusetts, Roosevelt quietly slipped off the vessel and transferred to the USS Augusta. While a Secret Service decoy remained aboard the Potomac—smoking, waving, and mimicking FDR’s movements—Roosevelt was already en route to Newfoundland for a clandestine meeting with Winston Churchill. That meeting produced the Atlantic Charter, one of the key guiding documents for the postwar world.

After FDR’s death in 1945, the Potomac was returned to the Coast Guard and put to work in fishery enforcement. From there, its story became even more surprising. It passed through a series of private owners—one of them Elvis Presley, who bought the vessel in 1964 for $55,000 and reportedly planned to donate it to charity. Its condition declined over the decades, and at one point it was seized in a drug bust and later sank near Treasure Island.

That might have been the end of the Potomac—but the ship was too historically significant to lose. The Navy raised it, the Port of Oakland purchased it, and with grant support and leadership from James Roosevelt, FDR’s eldest son, a major restoration began. After years of painstaking work, the Potomac reemerged in 1993 as a fully restored vessel and, two years later, reopened to the public. Today, it stands as the only presidential yacht in the United States accessible to visitors.

Visiting the USS Potomac Today

The USS Potomac is permanently docked at 540 Water Street in Oakland, where it’s maintained by the nonprofit Potomac Association and protected as a National Historic Landmark. The Association’s mission—preserving FDR’s legacy through education—is reflected in the programming they offer: guided tours, student programs, historical talks, and narrated cruises showcasing the Bay through the lens of the New Deal and World War II.

Standard tours run about 45 minutes and take place most Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays. They offer a close look at the presidential cabin, communications room, and deck spaces while volunteers explain how the ship operated during some of the most pivotal moments of the 20th century.

If you want the full experience, the cruises stand out. The Potomac sets out onto San Francisco Bay for trips that highlight the region’s bridges, islands, maritime history, and FDR’s influence on the waterfront’s development. Each cruise includes live narration from trained volunteers, who connect the ship’s past with the changing landscape around it.

Today, nearly 30 years after reopening, the USS Potomac has welcomed more than a quarter million visitors—and it remains one of the Bay Area’s most distinctive historic attractions. For anyone interested in naval history, FDR, or simply exploring the Bay from a new vantage point, it’s a visit well worth making.