EVERETT — The Boeing Co. jet factory here will serve as the backdrop Friday for a speech on domestic manufacturing by President Barack Obama.
The White House confirmed Monday that the president will visit Boeing’s massive aircraft assembly site Friday morning as part of Obama’s visit to the Puget Sound region.
Obama will fly into Paine Field and tour Boeing’s widebody jet factory. The White House said Obama will discuss the importance of American manufacturing and exports to the country’s economy.
It’s the first time in 19 years that a U.S. president has visited the city of Everett. President Bill Clinton was the last to visit the city, in 1993.
Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., said the president’s visit to the Boeing site will be an opportunity for Obama to meet with the area’s highly skilled aerospace workers.
“There are few places I can think of where American hard work and innovation is on better display than on the Boeing assembly line in Everett,” she said.
Obama also is scheduled to host a pair of fundraisers in the Seattle suburbs on Friday. The details posted on his campaign website show he will participate in a Medina brunch followed by a Bellevue lunch.
The $17,900-per-person brunch is being hosted at the private home of Susan and Jeff Brotman, a co-founder of Costco Wholesale Corp.
The lunch is hosted at a hotel and costs $1,000 per person.
The more expensive gathering will provide his re-election campaign $5,000 per person, while the remainder of each donation goes to the Democratic National Committee.
Herald writer Jerry Cornfield and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Presidential visits
Local historians and political buffs believe five U.S. presidents have visited Snohomish County while in office. All five made their visits to Everett:
•May 23, 1903 — Theodore Roosevelt
Oct. 9, 1911 — William Howard Taft
Oct. 1, 1937 – Franklin Delano Roosevelt
June 9, 1948 — Harry S. Truman
Oct. 2, 1952 — Harry S. Truman
Feb. 23, 1993 — Bill Clinton
Before becoming president, Dwight Eisenhower, Richard Nixon, George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush made stops here.
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