Vice President Kamala Harris is a political trailblazer as the first Black woman and first person of South Asian descent to win a major party’s nomination for president.

But she follows a decades-old tradition of Democratic presidential candidates when she visits Detroit this Labor Day, a holiday marking the end of summer and, historically, the day presidential campaigns launch into overdrive for the fall stretch.

Big union cities such as New York, Chicago and Pittsburgh have also attracted big-name politicos on the first Monday in September but no city has been more closely associated with the American labor movement than Detroit. Combine that with Michigan’s status as a battleground state and the appeal for Democrats to visit Detroit on Labor Day is clear.

Though Detroit has celebrated Labor Day since the late 1800s, it’s only in about the last 75 years that Labor Day has drawn presidential candidates to the city.

Until after World War II, “labor in its contemporary form hadn’t risen to the level that it has now,” said Marick Masters, a professor emeritus of business at Wayne State University in Detroit. “As it grew in power, particularly in the Democratic Party, Democratic politicians wanted to pay allegiance to the labor movement” by making holiday visits to Detroit and other union strongholds, he said.

More: Kamala Harris to return to metro Detroit on Labor Day

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Here are five notable Labor Day visits to Detroit by past presidential candidates.

Harry S. Truman, 1948

Harry S. Truman visited Detroit as an incumbent president but a political underdog.

He would go on to defeat Republican New York Gov. Thomas Dewey in what was seen as one of the greatest political upsets in U.S. history, and considered Detroit his “lucky city,” the Detroit Free Press reported at the time.

That’s because he had also campaigned in the Motor City on Labor Day in 1944, as a candidate for vice president to Franklin D. Roosevelt, who that November won an unprecedented fourth term.

The local AFL and CIO affiliates, which sometimes competed to organize the same workers, had made a joint invitation to Truman at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. That was viewed as a healthy sign for labor unity, though the entities would not merge until 1955.

“A free and strong labor movement is our best bulwark against communism,” Truman, who was accompanied by his daughter Margaret, told a large crowd in Cadillac Square in Detroit.

At the time of Truman’s visit, union members were still outraged by the 1946 passage — over Truman’s veto — of the Taft-Hartley Act, which took effect in 1947 and banned wildcat strikes, closed shops, and mass picketing, among other restrictions on union activities.

Taft-Hartley “is only a foretaste of what you will get if Republican reaction is allowed to grow,” Truman told the crowd in Detroit.

Inflation was an election issue then, as it is today. Truman in 1946 had vetoed a bill to extend price controls, introduced under Roosevelt, saying he did not believe the legislation would prevent prices from rising.

Adlai Stevenson, 1952

Not every Democrat who campaigns for president in Detroit on Labor Day goes on to win.

Adlai Stevenson, who lost to Republican Dwight Eisenhower, is a case in point.

As reported in the Detroit Free Press, the crowd of 25,000 gave “cheers of anticipation” when Michigan Gov. G. Mennen “Soapy” Williams introduced Stevenson, the governor of Illinois, as “a great friend of labor.”

But those cheers “became much milder as Stevenson expounded his views on labor relations,” and the crowd “began disintegrating,” the newspaper reported.

“You are not my captives and I am not yours,” Stevenson told the largely pro-union audience. “I intend to do exactly what I think right and best for all of us — business, labor, agriculture, alike. You, too, will do exactly what you think best at the election.”

Though he called for changes to Taft-Hartley, Stevenson rejected unionists’ labeling of it as a “slave labor” law, the Free Press reported.

“We cannot tolerate shutdowns which threaten our national safety,” Stevenson said. “The right to bargain collectively does not include the right to stop the national economy.”

Stevenson returned to Detroit on Labor Day in 1956, launching another unsuccessful campaign for the White House.

John F. Kennedy, 1960

The crowd in Cadillac Square was estimated at 60,000 when the charismatic senator from Massachusetts, on his way to a razor-thin victory over Vice President Richard Nixon, launched a withering attack on the Eisenhower administration.

John F. Kennedy said that stagnant growth under the Republican president had cost each American $7,000.

As reported in the Free Press, Kennedy said the labor movement “is people,” and the enemies of labor are the enemies of “all progress.”

“The two cannot be separated,” Kennedy said. “The man and the party who opposes a decent increase in minimum wage is not likely to be more generous toward a badly underpaid school teacher.”

Democratic State Chairman Neil Staebler called Kennedy “the best campaigner to hit Michigan since Franklin D. Roosevelt,” who had visited Detroit, but never on Labor Day.

Lyndon B. Johnson, 1964

Michigan Democratic delegates generally, and union members specifically, were vocally unhappy with Kennedy’s selection of Lyndon B. Johnson as his running mate at the 1960 Democratic National Convention.

But both labor activists and Johnson — who didn’t visit Michigan once during the 1960 campaign — were willing to put those memories behind them when Johnson came to Detroit as president, less than one year after Kennedy was assassinated.

Reporters marveled at the willingness of Johnson, accompanied by his wife, Lady Bird, to mingle with the huge crowd outside what was then the Sheraton Cadillac Hotel, shaking as many hands as possible, amid high security and understandably nervous Secret Service agents, the Free Press reported.

In a bipartisan gesture, Detroit labor leaders invited Republican Gov. George Romney to join Johnson on the speaking platform.

“Hospitality is not limited to those with whom we share all our views, as this occasion, and the visits of other presidential candidates, will bear out,” Romney said.

Barack Obama 2011

President Barack Obama’s Labor Day visit to Detroit was unusual in that it did not occur during an election year.

With another year still to go in his first term, Obama visited Detroit amid persistent high unemployment to celebrate his 2009 stimulus package that included an $81 billion federal rescue of General Motors and Chrysler, which is now known as Stellantis.

He was drumming up support for a major jobs plan he was about to present to Congress, where the U.S. House was Republican-controlled.

Speaking at a GM parking lot next to the Renaissance Center in Detroit, Obama credited the auto industry with the creation of the middle class in Michigan and across the nation.

“Our economy is stronger when workers are getting paid good wages and good benefits,” Obama said. “Having a voice on the job and a chance to get organized and the chance to negotiate for a fair day’s pay … is the right of every man and woman in America, not just the CEO in the corner office, but also the janitor who cleans that office.”

Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or pegan@freepress.com. Follow him on X, @paulegan4.

This Labor Day weekend’s weather will be splendid in Metro Detroit.

The weather will be ideal for hanging out at the Romeo Peach Festival, Soaring Eagle Arts, Beats & Eats in Royal Oak, the Detroit Jazz Festival in Hart Plaza and Cadillac Square, parades, and any other events.

Skies will be mostly clear Saturday night with lows around 60 degrees in Southeast Michigan. Winds will be around 5 mph.

Sunday

Sunday will be a fun day for going to the park or beach, grilling, or simply relaxing on the patio. A cold front will move through the area and reinforce the cool, dry air on the first day of meteorological fall in the Northern Hemisphere. (The first day of astrological fall is September 22.)

Skies will be mostly sunny on Sunday morning, but clouds will increase in the afternoon. Under a mix of sunshine and clouds, highs will be in the upper 70s to near 80 degrees in Detroit, Adrian, Monroe, Dearborn, and Warren. Temperatures will top out in the mid 70s in Ann Arbor, Howell, Flint, Troy, and Macomb Township. It will be in the lower 70s in much of the Thumb. Expect a northwesterly breeze from 10 to 15 mph with gusts up to 20 mph.

Sunday night, we will be able to open the windows and get crisp air. Under partly cloudy skies, lows will be in the mid 50s.

Labor Day

The cooldown will continue into Labor Day. Monday will be mostly sunny as a high-pressure system centers itself over the state. Highs will only be in the lower 70s. The average high for Labor Day is 79 degrees. Light winds will be out of the north at 5 to 10 mph.

Monday night will be great weather for a bonfire. Skies will be mostly clear with lows in the upper 40s and lower 50s.

Tuesday and Wednesday

A dry stretch will last for several days, but temperatures will gradually rise back to normal.

Highs will be in the mid 70s on Tuesday and near 80 degrees on Wednesday. Both days will bring lots of sunshine.

Thursday and Friday

Thursday will warm into the lower 80s with partly cloudy skies. The chance of showers will return at night.

The chance of showers will continue Friday, and there will be a lower chance on Saturday. Temperatures will drop sharply into next weekend. Highs will only be in the 60s on Saturday in many Southeast Michigan communities.

With mostly sunny skies, temperatures will warm back to around normal by midweek.

The Detroit Lions’ initial 16-man practice squad has been settled. While the group will undoubtedly change throughout the season, many of the players in that group will likely stick around for the entire season.

Every week, the Lions are allowed to elevate two players from the practice squad and make them part of their gameday roster. Practice squad players are often eventually signed to the 53-man roster, as well.

Given the strength and experience of several players on the practice squad, it seems inevitable that a few players of the current 16 will end up making a difference on Sunday. That’s why general manager Brad Holmes and coach Dan Campbell continue to call it the 69-man roster (53+16). They’re all important.

So today’s Question of the Day is:

Which Lions practice squad player will have the biggest impact on the 2024 Lions?

My answer: Well, first take a look at the Lions’ practice squad with Erik Schlitt’s fantastic breakdown of each player.

Early in the season, the answer will undoubtedly be Kyle Peko. With Brodric Martin on injured reserve and DJ Reader’s Week 1 status still very much up in the air, Peko is currently in line to be the starting nose tackle—as he has been in training camp for the past month. It wouldn’t be surprising to see him make it on the 53-man roster after Week 1 (the Lions are likely waiting because the salaries of veteran players become guaranteed if they’re on the Week 1 53-man roster).

But he’s the easy answer. Let’s dig a little deeper beyond Peko.

The Lions’ WR-X position remains essentially unfilled among their 53-man roster. Yes, the Lions are likely to play Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jameson Williams, and Kalif Raymond when they go three wide, but none of those players possess exactly what they’re looking for in the position.

Detroit will continue that WR-X position battle with three practice squadders: Donovan Peoples-Jones, Tim Patrick, and Allen Robinson. Peoples-Jones likely has the early advantage simply for being with the team since late October. However, I think Patrick eventually wins that job and gets added to the 53-man roster. If you need any convincing, check out our 6 Questions with Mile High Report on Patrick’s career.

Who else on the practice squad will have an impact in 2024? Scroll down to the comment section and let us know your thoughts!