The Hermitage Hotel: Nashville's Presidential and Political Landmark

A block from the Tennessee State Capitol, the Hermitage has been Nashville's political living room since 1910, and its ballroom and lobby have witnessed presidential banquets and one of the great fights in American constitutional history.

The Hermitage Hotel

The Hermitage opened on September 17, 1910, as Nashville's first million-dollar hotel, a Beaux-Arts palace of Tennessee marble floors, Italian marble columns, and a painted-glass skylight over the lobby. The following year, President William Howard Taft spoke at a banquet held in his honor in the ballroom, the first of many presidential visits. In later years Woodrow Wilson, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush all followed.

In the summer of 1920, the hotel became a headquarters in the battle over the Nineteenth Amendment, as Tennessee's vote decided whether women would win the right to vote nationwide.

Today the Hermitage is Nashville's grande dame, with a celebrated restaurant, the clubby Oak Bar, and a famously glamorous Art Deco men's room.

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About this guide: Presidential connections are drawn from public sources, including official White House schedules, presidential and historical archives, and reputable news outlets, as well as the hotels' own published histories. Hotel names, ownership, and amenities may have changed since publication. This information is provided for general interest, is not guaranteed, and should be independently verified. Hotelaholic is not affiliated with or endorsed by any U.S. president or government agency.