Quoted from rachel72

Actually, I was incorrect as it was Memorial Day he missed at the Tomb. I know that other Presidents have missed such events, but being that this is his first year, one would expect him to be present at such important events.

There is a source that I referenced  last Autumn that detailed presidential attendance at Memorial Day and Veteran's  Day events going back well into the early 1900's.   Actually, it also included all presidential trips during that period.
Obama was NOT the first president to be at an overseas American military cemetery on either Memorial Day
or Veterans' Day.   I believe (and I don't have the source in front of me) that every president except .. I believe Ford .. attended ceremonies at an overseas American military cemetery on either Memorial Day or Veteran's Day at least once during their presidencies.  
If memory serves me correctly,  Woodrow Wilson did not attend Memorial Day services in 1919 because
he was on his way back from the Paris Peace Conferences and in 1920 because he was bedridden in the
White House after his stroke.

The fact is that the President of the United States acting in his/her capacity as Commander-in-Chief can
and has attended Memorial Day and Veterans' Day services at any of a number of American military cemeteries or memorial sites either in the 50 United States, the District of Columbia or overseas .. and still be appropriately observing the solemn holiday.

Bill Clinton was at Arlington every Memorial Day during his 8 years as President. Obama was at a cemetary in Chicago last Memorial Day, not abroad.

Quoted from rachel72

Bill Clinton was at Arlington every Memorial Day during his 8 years as President. Obama was at a cemetary in Chicago last Memorial Day, not abroad.

He was scheduled to give a speech in Chicago, but storms prevented it, so he returned to Andrews Air Base and gave the speech there instead.

Quoted from rachel72

Bill Clinton was at Arlington every Memorial Day during his 8 years as President. Obama was at a cemetary in Chicago last Memorial Day, not abroad.

Presidents and Memorial Day

Is President Barack Obama the first president to not lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on Memorial Day? How much of a snub is this?

Some veterans groups are unhappy that President Obama chose to spend Memorial Day in Chicago, and many conservative media types have joined in.

But Obama is not alone in not making the Memorial Day ceremony at the Arlington National Cemetery every year, and sending a proxy (in this case Vice President Joe Biden). Just in recent history:

• President Ronald Reagan missed four of the eight ceremonies in his presidency — while recovering after being shot, when he instead went to Camp David, when he was in Moscow and when he attended a summit in Virginia.

• President George H. W. Bush never attended a Memorial Day ceremony at Arlington. He was in Maine for three years and Rome another year.

• In 2002, George W. Bush was in France on Memorial Day. In his place, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz placed a wreath on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

President Bill Clinton, who served in the eight years between the Bush terms, attended the Arlington ceremony in each of his years in the White House.

The above is from the Saint Petersburg Times website -- however -- in another source about Presidents
-- it indicates that President Clinton was in Paris, France on  May 26, 1997  (which was Memorial Day).

joebxr I should just submit my post to you. Correct, a storm did prevent the entire speech in Chicago but the President did begin the ceremory there. Too bad, the weather in Arlington was beautiful for VP Biden.

Again, the President was not abroad, just in another State (actually, 2 States that day).

My point here is, and always was, that the President should be in AZ instead of Schenectady. Due to the senseless massacre, the President needs to be in attendance in AZ. In my opinion, the President should also be in attendance for the Veterans and Memorial Ceremonies as well...if at all possible. It's an example to the citizens of the US that he respects traditions and honors those individuals in remembrance. It is a small gesture that would be respected by all.