1865 and 1922
Georges Clemenceau, a French statesman who served as Prime Minister of France from 1906 to 1909 and again from 1917 until 1920, first visited Mount Vernon circa 1865 and again on December 6, 1922, while in the United States on a lecture tour. His companions that day were Jean Jules Jusserand, French ambassador to the United States, and two American signers of the Treaty of Versailles, Henry White and General Tasker Bliss. The group received a tour of the estate by the Superintendent Harrison H. Dodge who later mentioned the visit in his book.
Clemenceau confided in Mr. Dodge that he had visited Washington’s home many years ago as a young man while living and teaching in the United States during the 1860s. He must have appreciated these experiences, as he later donated his Mulhouse Centennial Medal, given to him by the city of Mulhouse, to the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association. In his donation letter, he wrote, “I took the liberty of presenting it to the Mount Vernon Museum in order to place under the auspices of George Washington that memento of the glorious part taken by the noble soldiers of the Republic of the United States.” The medal still remains in Mount Vernon’s collections.