President Biden Set To Return To Nantucket For Thanksgiving

It appears Nantucket will be hosting a special guest once again this Thanksgiving.

President Joe Biden and family will be back on the island in November to renew their traditional holiday visit to Nantucket.

The Nantucket Police Department has confirmed that the Secret Service has been in touch regarding another Thanksgiving visit by President Biden.

"Yes, I've recently been in contact with the Secret Service," Nantucket Police Lt. Angus MacVicar told the Current late last week when asked if he had been in contact with government officials regarding another Thanksgiving visit by President Biden. MacVicar referred all specific questions to the White House.

While the visit is not a huge surprise - Secret Service agents who were on the island last November told the Current that the island should expect a Presidential visit every Thanksgiving during Biden's term - the contact does signal that he is once again Nantucket-bound.

Last year's Thanksgiving week on Nantucket was transformed by the arrival of President Biden and his family, who came with an entourage of more than a hundred Secret Service agents and security personnel and were followed by dozens of media members and television news crews, along with State Police Troopers and others.

The Bidens stayed at the compound of David Rubenstein along Nantucket Harbor, but there is no word yet on if that is the location the first family will be staying at this year.

While Biden had been coming to Nantucket for decades as a U.S. Senator and eventually as Vice President, last year's visit was unlike any that had come before it in terms of the government apparatus that descended on the island to provide security.

Biden paid a visit to Coast Guard Station Brant Point, and walked the streets of downtown Nantucket before attending the tree lighting ceremony on Main Street.

The President also visited numerous downtown shops and businesses during his stay, including Bookworks, Murray’s Toggery Shop, the Sunken Ship, Centre Point, ACK 4170, and dined at the Tap Room in the basement of the Jared Coffin House.

Some of Nantucket’s inns and hotels were completely booked by the Secret Service and other visiting government personnel or media. The White Elephant was ground zero for the Secret Service, while the press corps stayed at the Veranda House. And those weren’t the only lodging establishments that saw bumps during what is normally a relatively quiet week, as the Secret Service entourage was so large that it took up residence in a number of other hotels.