President Barack Obama is expected to arrive in Alaska on Monday night, Aug. 31, for a tour expected to last three days. The president has plans to visit Anchorage, Seward, Dillingham and Kotzebue, and a complete list of Alaska Dispatch News coverage of his visit will be kept current online.
The Great Land is used to having international attention, especially during the peak of summer when visitors from all over the world seek adventure here. But the most extended public visit by a sitting U.S. president since Warren G. Harding is a different kind of limelight. In addition to Obama's visit, high-level representatives of governments and companies all around the world are visiting Alaska for conferences this fall, and it won't be the only visit for some of them. Gatherings associated with the U.S. chairmanship of the Arctic Council have been scheduled for Alaska as far away as 2017.
We Alaskans often give visitors welcome bits of local knowledge to enrich what for many is the trip of a lifetime. And the president is no exception.
To help him make the most of his time here, what should he know about Alaska and Alaskans right up front? What do Alaskans hope he learns while he's here?
Comment in the thread below, weigh in with our online form, or send an email to letters@alaskadispatch.com. We will be publishing a selection of responses.