McMillen Yachts

06/04/2026

More cruising in NYC!!🇺🇸🇺🇸

06/04/2026

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05/31/2026

FREEDOM in NYC!!

04/18/2026

In 1977, newly elected President Jimmy Carter made one of his most symbolically charged decisions: he ordered the sale of the USS Sequoia, the 104-foot presidential yacht that had served nine commanders in chief since Herbert Hoover.

Carter was facing an economy gripped by stagflation, with an 8 percent unemployment rate and 14 percent inflation.

He had also campaigned on a promise to dispense with the extravagance of the presidency, seeking to end what he called the "imperial presidency."

The yacht's $800,000 yearly maintenance and staffing costs struck him as unjustified and unnecessary.

On May 18, 1977, the USS Sequoia was sold at public auction to a private owner for $286,000.

The Sequoia was no ordinary boat — it was the nerve center of Washington's floating social world, known by the press as the "floating White House."

Presidents had used it to cruise from Maine to the Caribbean, explore the Potomac and Chesapeake Bay, receive royalty, confer with allies, and simply escape the pressures of the Oval Office.

Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger wrote that it served an important purpose in enabling presidents to escape the tension of the White House, calling it a quiet sanctuary handier than Camp David for casual, informal discussions.

Washington's political elite — the lobbyists, senators, diplomats, and power brokers who had long been entertained aboard her decks — were furious.

Carter later reflected that he was surprised by how unpopular some of these changes proved, and learned how much the public cherished the pomp and ceremony of the presidency.

He admitted that people thought he was not being reverent enough to the office, that he was too much of a peanut farmer and not enough of an aristocrat.

Carter would eventually recall selling the yacht as a mistake.

02/26/2026

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01/25/2026

Amazing early footage with commentary aboard the J class yachts!

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01/24/2026

01/23/2026