What presidents have tried to buy?
Executive summary
Several U.S. presidents have tried to buy territory or land — most famously Thomas Jefferson with the Louisiana Purchase and Andrew Johnson with Alaska — while others have proposed purchases (or engaged in land deals) for strategic, political or personal reasons, including postwar offers for Greenland and more recent overtures under Donald Trump [1] [2] [3] [4]. Domestic land acquisitions by presidents have also included personal purchases that raised conflict‑of‑interest questions, as in Richard Nixon’s Florida deals and the unique business entanglements of Donald Trump [5] [6] [7].
1. Thomas Jefferson and the purchase that reshaped a continent
Thomas Jefferson commissioned the negotiation that produced the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, a treaty that transferred roughly 530 million acres from France to the United States for $15 million and solved the immediate strategic problem of control over New Orleans and the Mississippi trade route [2] [8] [1]. Jefferson faced political and constitutional objections at home because the Constitution did not explicitly authorize a president to buy territory, but his administration framed the deal as a treaty and moved ahead — historians still debate whether this was constitutional stretching or prudent statecraft [2] [8].
2. Andrew Johnson and Arctic ambitions: Alaska and the long history of buying the North
The mid‑19th century saw U.S. interest in Arctic territories: Andrew Johnson presided over the era that completed the acquisition of Alaska from Russia in 1867 for $7.2 million — a purchase often cited as precedent for later proposals to buy Greenland [3]. Separate reporting traces ideas about buying Greenland back to the 1860s and shows that Arctic real‑estate aspirations have recurred in American policymaking across administrations [9].
3. Truman’s postwar offer for Greenland: Cold War strategy in gold
After World War II the Truman administration reportedly offered Denmark $100 million in gold for Greenland in 1946, reflecting strategic calculations about Arctic military access and postwar influence, a move framed by some historians as part of broader U.S. geopolitics rather than simple real‑estate shopping [4]. Contemporary commentary underscores that Greenland already provided the United States sweeping military access under Cold War agreements, which shaped later debates over any outright purchase [9].
4. Donald Trump’s 2019 proposal and the politics of buying sovereignty
President Donald Trump’s 2019 expressed interest in buying Greenland reopened the old playbook and provoked diplomatic friction with Denmark; commentators noted that the idea was more aggressively pursued by Trump than recent predecessors and that it recalled historic precedents and the uncomfortable legacy of transactions made without local consent [9] [4] [3]. Analysts and historians cited in the press warned that precedents for purchasing sovereignty often ignored the wishes of the people who lived on the lands, and that modern proposals carry strategic and commercial subtexts rather than being mere real‑estate transactions [10].
5. When presidents buy private land: Nixon, Trump and conflicts of interest
Not all presidential "buying" is territorial acquisition; presidents have also purchased private property and engaged in business arrangements that raised ethical questions. Richard Nixon bought a large San Clemente estate while in and around his presidency and later sold parcels to associates at prices that prompted scrutiny [5]. Donald Trump’s continuing private business interests while president have produced documented flows of payments to Trump properties and renewed concerns about presidential profiteering and influence‑buying, as tracked by investigative outlets and watchdogs [6] [7].
6. The limits of the record and competing interpretations
The sources show a clear pattern: territorial purchases have been tools of diplomacy and strategy (Louisiana, Alaska), while offers to buy places like Greenland reflect Cold War and contemporary strategic thinking and sometimes political spectacle [2] [3] [4] [9]. Where sources are silent — for example, which presidents formally negotiated the U.S. acquisition of the Virgin Islands — reporting notes the acquisition but does not identify a single presidential initiator in the provided excerpts [10]. Alternative readings emphasize either statesmanship (expanding national interest via treaty) or coercive, consent‑deficient history when purchases affected populations on the ground [10].