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Notable Visitors at The Greenbrier

There are 30 sections in this Exhibit


The Greenbrier’s extensive guest list has included politicians, royalty, athletes, military leaders, writers, performers, and many others. This exhibit of notable visitors was developed by Greenbrier historian Robert Conte, author of The History of The Greenbrier: America’s Resort.

View our article on The Greenbrier.

Section 1: Prince Edward

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Prince Edward, the Prince of Wales, visited The Greenbrier in November 1919 in the midst of a major U.S. tour. He would later become King Edward VIII of England until he abdicated in 1936 to marry Wallis Warfield Simpson and they became the Duke and Duchess of Windsor.

Section 2: Wilson's widow

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Edith Bolling Galt Wilson, the widow of President Wilson, and Henry Waters Taft, the brother of President Taft, attended the dedication of the President’s Cottage Museum at The Greenbrier on August 22, 1932.

Section 3: Eleanor Roosevelt

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Eleanor Roosevelt spoke to a meeting of the Chi Omega sorority in June 1936.

Section 4: Clare Booth Luce

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Clare Booth Luce was a journalist at Vanity Fair magazine when this photograph was taken in 1936, about the time she wrote her best-known play, The Women. She visited The Greenbrier on a number of occasions with her husband Henry R. Luce, the publisher of Time and Life magazines.

Section 5: Cordell Hull

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Secretary of State and Mrs. Cordell Hull vacationed at The Greenbrier during the tumultuous summer of 1939. Secretary Hull was called back up to Washington on September 1 when Germany invaded Poland to start the Second World War.

Section 6: George C. Marshall

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U.S. Army Chief of Staff George C. Marshall celebrated his 60th birthday at The Greenbrier in December 1940.

Section 7: Edna Ferber

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Edna Ferber visited in March 1941. Ferber was an American writer whose novels included Giant, which was made into a movie in 1956. Her novel So Big won the Pulitzer Prize in 1924.

Section 8: General Dwight D. Eisenhower

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General Dwight D. Eisenhower posed for a bust during the years that The Greenbrier served as an Army hospital during the Second World War. In this July 1945 photograph he is shown with the sculptor Archimedes Giacomantonio. The bust is still on display at The Greenbrier.

Section 9: India's prime minister

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Prime Minister Nehru of India stopped at The Greenbrier for a rest during an October 1949 U.S. Tour. He was hosted by Defense Secretary Louis Johnson, at right. In the center in the white hat is Walter Tuohy, the president of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway, which owned The Greenbrier at the time.

Section 10: Duke and Duchess of Windsor

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The Duke and Duchess of Windsor were frequent Greenbrier guests in the late 1940s and early 1950s. In this 1950 photo, they are on the left with their friends Jinx Falkenberg and her husband, Tex McCrary. The Duke of Windsor was the former King Edward VIII of England who abdicated to marry Wallis Warfield Simpson in 1936. They took the titles Duke and Duchess of Windsor.

Section 11: Duchess

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The Duchess of Windsor, in the center with long gloves, posed in 1950 with some of the more glamorous guests at The Greenbrier annual Spring Festival.

Section 12: Ben Hogan

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Ben Hogan shot a record 259 for four rounds on the Old White Course in May 1950. It was Hogan’s return to form about a year after a near-fatal automobile crash. He beat his long-time rival, Greenbrier Golf Pro Sam Snead.

Section 13: Hogan and Snead

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One of the great rivalries in the history of American golf was between Ben Hogan, left, and Sam Snead. They faced each other numerous times at The Greenbrier where Snead was the golf pro for more than 40 years. In this 1953 photo they seem to be enjoying each other’s company during lunch at the Clubhouse.

Section 14: Bob Hope

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Comedian Bob Hope seems to have found a new friend during his May 1953 visit to The Greenbrier.

Section 15: Senator Kennedy

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Senator John F. Kennedy spoke to the U.S. Tobacco Association in June 1958. Kennedy had visited The Greenbrier 10 years earlier in 1948, and his parents, Joseph and Rose Kennedy, honeymooned at the resort in October 1914.

Section 16: Nixons and Underwoods

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Vice President Richard Nixon and wife Pat pose with West Virginia Governor Cecil Underwood and his wife Hovah in Top Notch cottage in September 1957.

Section 17: Nixon and Sam Snead

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Vice President Richard Nixon with Sam Snead in 1958; at left is The Greenbrier’s President Truman Wright and at right is Attorney General William P. Rodgers.

Section 18: Sam Snead

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Sam Snead holds the ball after shooting an astounding 59 on The Greenbrier Course on May 16, 1959. This was one of the highlights of his 30-year career as The Greenbrier pro and later as the Golf Pro Emeritus up until his death in May 2002.

Section 19: Bill Campbell

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Bill Campbell of Huntington is not only one of the greatest amateur golfers in the history of the game, but he and his wife, Joan, were also great competitors at dance contests in The Greenbrier’s Cameo Ballroom. This photo is from 1961.

Section 20: Lyndon Johnson

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Vice President Lyndon Johnson is greeted by Greenbrier President Truman Wright in May 1961. Although Johnson’s official reason for the visit was to speak to the Magazine Publishers Association, it seems probable that Johnson also toured the secret underground bunker, which was still under construction at the time.

Section 21: Prince Rainier and Princess Grace

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Prince Rainier of Monaco, Princess Grace, and their children, Albert and Caroline, stopped at The Greenbrier for a vacation on their way to the Kentucky Derby in April 1963.

Section 22: Jackson and Kissinger

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The Reverend Jesse Jackson and former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger were speakers at a conference in April 1979.

Section 23: Ryder Cup winners

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The victorious American Ryder Cup team accepts the trophy after defeating the European team on the Greenbrier Course in September 1979.

Section 24: The Clintons

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Governor Bill Clinton of Arkansas and his wife Hillary were participants in a meeting of the Southern Regional Education Board in June 1985. They pose here with Kentucky governor Martha Layne Collins.

Section 25: President George H.W. Bush

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President George H.W. Bush spoke to a business group in Governor’s Hall—part of the former Cold War bunker—in January 1997.

Section 26: President George W. Bush

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President George W. Bush greets Greenbrier staff before addressing a meeting of Republican Senators and members of the House of Representatives on February 1, 2002 only three days after his famous “Axis of Evil” State of the Union speech. At left are Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert and Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott.

Section 27: The Byrds

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Senator Robert C. Byrd and wife Erma celebrated their 63rd wedding anniversary at The Greenbrier in May 2000.

Section 28: Tom Watson

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The Greenbrier’s current Golf Pro Emeritus, Tom Watson, with well-known Monroe County musician Don Dransfield.

Section 29: Manchins with Jennifer Garner

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Governor Joe Manchin and wife Gayle pose with actress Jennifer Garner at the celebrity-saturated opening of The Greenbrier casino club on July 2, 2010

Section 30: Greenbrier historian

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The Greenbrier’s long-time historian Robert Conte posed in front of the trademark Springhouse at the beginning of his career in May 1980.

Learn more about The Greenbrier.