--- title: Donald Trump to Boy Scouts: History Behind the Speech description: President Trump's speech at the Boy Scouts of America National Jamboree put a twist on a long history that links Scouts to the White House. canonical: https://time.com/4872554/donald-trump-boy-scouts-presidents/ author: Olivia B. Waxman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-07-25T18:08:14.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T16:43:11.605Z article:section: History og:title: Donald Trump to Boy Scouts: History Behind the Speech og:description: President Trump's speech at the Boy Scouts of America National Jamboree put a twist on a long history that links Scouts to the White House. og:url: https://time.com/4872554/donald-trump-boy-scouts-presidents/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9773098dd81d88b1/6988d7170b72e388ce6eec98/jamboree.jpeg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Trump at Jamboree og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Donald Trump to Boy Scouts: History Behind the Speech twitter:description: President Trump's speech at the Boy Scouts of America National Jamboree put a twist on a long history that links Scouts to the White House. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9773098dd81d88b1/6988d7170b72e388ce6eec98/jamboree.jpeg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The History Behind President Trump's Speech to the Boy Scouts  by [Olivia B. Waxman](/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Staff Writer Jul 25, 2017 6:08 PM CUT  President Donald Trump waves after speaking to Boy Scouts during the National Boy Scout Jamboree at Summit Bechtel National Scout Reserve in Glen Jean, W.Va., July 24, 2017. President Donald Trump waves after speaking to Boy Scouts during the National Boy Scout Jamboree at Summit Bechtel National Scout Reserve in Glen Jean, W.Va., July 24, 2017.Saul Loeb—AFP/Getty Images  by [Olivia B. Waxman](/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Staff Writer Jul 25, 2017 6:08 PM CUT When President Donald Trump [addressed](http://time.com/4872118/trump-boy-scout-jamboree-speech-transcript/ "undefined") the 2017 Boy Scout Jamboree in West Virginia on Monday, his speech — which rehashed his victory in last year’s election and attacked the “fake media” — quickly drew backlash from many [parents, as well as current and former Scouts](http://time.com/4872107/trump-boy-scout-speech-reactions/ "undefined"), who felt that the speech would have been a better fit for a campaign rally. The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) [responded](http://thehill.com/homenews/news/343545-obama-booed-at-trump-boy-scout-rally "undefined") by reminding observers that the invitation for the President to address the regularly scheduled national gathering is a “long-standing tradition and is in no way an endorsement of any political party or specific policies,” and that the President of the U.S. at any given time is the non-partisan organization’s honorary president too. U.S. Presidents have been the “honorary president” of the Boy Scouts of America [since it was founded in 1910](http://www.scoutingnewsroom.org/press-releases/long-standing-tradition-continue-united-states-president-appear-national-jamboree/ "undefined"), and Woodrow Wilson signed a congressional charter enabling it to recruit for patriotic purposes in 1916\. (As Boy Scout Handbook author Robert Birkby [once told TIME](http://time.com/4355644/boy-scouts-gallery-federal-recognition/ "undefined"), the chartering established the claim of the BSA — one of several scouting groups popular at the time — as the “true” scouting organization for Americans.) But the history of presidents delivering formal addresses to the National Jamboree begins when the boys were scheduled to line Constitution Avenue in Washington, D.C. in 1935, in celebration of the organization’s 25th anniversary. A polio outbreak in the area led to the cancellation of the event and forced President Franklin Delano Roosevelt to address the boys by radio instead. “When you go out into life, you have come to understand that the individual in your community who always says ‘I can’t’ or ‘I won’t’ or ‘I don’t,’ the individual who by inaction or by opposition slows up honest, practical, far-seeing community effort, is the fellow who is holding back civilization and holding back the objectives of the Constitution of the United States,” he [said](https://blog.scoutingmagazine.org/2017/07/13/fdr-radio-address-1935-national-jamboree/ "undefined"). “We need more Scouts. The more the better. For the record shows that taking it by and large, boys trained as Scouts make good citizens.” FDR would eventually get to address the youngsters in person at the [first National Jamboree](http://www.scouting.org/licensing/Scouting/Media/MediaKit/NationalJamboree.aspx "undefined") in 1937, and presidential addresses have followed the format set by FDR of appealing to the young boys’ sense of civic duty. In most cases, when presidents’ speeches have gotten political, it has been to warn of a threat to democratic values, especially during times of (hot or cold) war. Harry S. Truman, [addressing](http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=13551 "undefined") the 1950 Jamboree in Valley Forge, Pa., [said](http://time.com/vault/issue/1950-07-10/page/20/ "undefined") “young people in Communist-dominated countries” being “regimented” and “exploited” should inspire the boy scouts to “work for freedom and peace with the same burning faith that inspired the men of George Washington’s army here at Valley Forge.” Decades later, in 1989, George H.W. Bush focused more on threats on the home front: “The number of people addicted to cocaine and crack has almost doubled…And I’m especially looking to you to encourage friends to refuse drugs — any illegal drugs,” he [said](http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=17411 "undefined") to the crowd in Bowling Green, Va. And scouting does seem to inspire people to go into government;[ John F. Kennedy](https://blog.scoutingmagazine.org/2013/11/22/remembering-john-f-kennedy-the-first-president-to-have-been-a-boy-scout/ "undefined") was the first Boy Scout to become President, Gerald Ford was the only [Eagle Scout](https://blog.scoutingmagazine.org/2015/02/16/gerald-ford-eagle-scout-president/ "undefined") to become President, and today, [more than a quarter of the members](https://blog.scoutingmagazine.org/2017/04/25/more-than-a-quarter-of-congress-has-some-connection-to-bsa/ "undefined") of the current Congress were either Boy Scouts [themselves](http://www.rollcall.com/news/Congressional-Eagle-Scouts-Good-Preparation-206064-1.html "undefined") or volunteered for the organization. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4872554/donald-trump-boy-scouts-presidents/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4872554/donald-trump-boy-scouts-presidents/"},"headline":"The History Behind President Trump's Speech to the Boy Scouts","datePublished":"2017-07-25T18:08:14.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T16:43:11.605Z","description":"President Trump's speech at the Boy Scouts of America National Jamboree put a twist on a long history that links Scouts to the White House.","url":"https://time.com/4872554/donald-trump-boy-scouts-presidents/","keywords":["politics"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9773098dd81d88b1/6988d7170b72e388ce6eec98/jamboree.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Olivia B. 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