BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) \u2013 On this Monday President\u2019s Day, an annual celebration of the nation\u2019s past chief executives, it\u2019s always interesting to note that Bakersfield is one of only two cities in America, not counting Washington, D.C., where two future presidents lived at the same time.<\/p>\n
We\u2019re referring of course to 2101 Monterey St., where in 1949\u00a0a young salesman named George Herbert Walker Bush lived with his wife Barbara and their toddler son George W. The elder Bush was 26 years old and working for a subsidiary of Dresser Industries, an oil supply business later bought by Halliburton, and he was selling oilfield supplies out of the trunk of his Studebaker. The family lived in the house for only three months.<\/p>\n
In 2000, as the nation prepared to choose between Democrat Al Gore and Republican George W. Bush, Bakersfield political consultant Mark Abernathy purchased the home. But he forgot to tell his wife Cathy, who then worked for Congressman Bill Thomas, and she was irate when she found out. The couple had just purchased a large home and she was justifiably concerned about finances.<\/p>\n
Fast forward a few months, and Cathy Abernathy is at the White House with Congressman Thomas, who has just been selected chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee \u2013 and she\u2019s still angry about the house in East Baskersfield.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile we\u2019re sitting there, I start feeling someone massaging the back of my shoulders,\u201d Abernathy said. \u201cAnd I turn and look, and it\u2019s George W. Bush.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe says, \u2018You know, I used to live in Bakersfield.\u2019 And I said, \u2018Oh, I know, I own your house.\u2019 So all of a sudden, that house was just wonderful in my opinion, and I take great pride in it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Abernathy would still like to turn the 967 square foot home into a learning center, which was her late husband\u2019s plan all along. But those plans are still on hold. Turning it into a museum or some other useful purpose would probably require moving it, and that would be an expensive undertaking.<\/p>\n
The home of John Quincy Adams is still standing and preserved as part of the Adams National Historical Park in Quincy, Mass. The house is directly next to the birth home of his father, John Adams, both of which are still preserved.<\/p>\n
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