Elvis Presley became famous for expensive cars, motorcycles and eventually private planes, but one of his strangest purchases had belonged to someone even more famous. On January 30, 1964, Elvis paid $55,000 for the USS Potomac, the former presidential yacht used by Franklin D. Roosevelt. This was not a small pleasure boat. It was a 165-foot piece of American history once known as FDR’s “Floating White House.”
Roosevelt had used the Potomac as his presidential yacht beginning in 1936, taking fishing trips and conducting important business aboard it. After his death, however, the ship passed through several owners and gradually deteriorated. By the time it reached a public auction in California, its future looked uncertain. Then the King of Rock and Roll unexpectedly stepped in.
Elvis Presley Donates the USS Potomac to St. Jude
The surprising part is that Elvis apparently never bought the yacht because he wanted to cruise around on it. Graceland records that he first hoped to give it to the March of Dimes so it could become a national memorial connected to Roosevelt. The organization declined because maintaining the vessel would cost too much. Elvis then tried another organization before eventually turning to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
On February 14, 1964, Elvis appeared in Long Beach with St. Jude founder Danny Thomas and formally presented the yacht to the hospital so it could be used to raise money. The USS Potomac organization says Elvis had paid $55,000 partly because he wanted to save the historic vessel from ending up as junk. Instead of becoming another possession in Elvis’s collection, the yacht became part of one of his more unusual charitable stories.
FDR’s Floating White House Sank and Was Finally Restored
The yacht’s story became even stranger after Elvis was gone. It passed through more owners, became connected to a drug-smuggling operation and sank while being held at Treasure Island in 1981. The Port of Oakland eventually rescued it and a restoration costing millions brought the vessel back to life. Today it survives as a restored National Historic Landmark in Oakland. The second video is especially relevant because it is a newly released look at the ship’s remarkable journey from Roosevelt through Elvis and eventually back from the bottom of San Francisco Bay.
Elvis Presley sold enormous numbers of records, changed popular music and became one of the most recognizable entertainers of the twentieth century. Yet stories like the Potomac reveal another side of his fame. He could spend a fortune on something extraordinary and then give it away instead of keeping it. Watch the first video to see Elvis presenting FDR’s famous yacht, then follow the second video to discover the incredible fate of the historic ship after the King briefly became part of its story.