(CNN) -- Since the days of George Washington, U.S. presidents have carved out a long tradition of official road trips, if not by motorcade, then by railroad or horse and carriage. The first Secret Service agent killed protecting a president died on a trip with Theodore Roosevelt. In the late 1800s, President Rutherford Hayes rode railroads to visit 30 states and six territories, earning him the nickname "The Rover," according to Willamette University Professor Richard Ellis. Eight presidents later, President William Howard Taft logged an average of 30,000 annual rail miles during his four-year administration. In "Presidential Travel: The Journey from George Washington to George W. Bush," Ellis writes about presidential road trips, some which were tainted by tragedy.
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Franklin Pierce's son was killed while on a railroad trip with president-elect
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Secret Service agent killed on the road while protecting Teddy Roosevelt
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Ferry carrying George Washington and his carriage ran aground in a storm
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President William Howard Taft traveled 30,000 miles by train annually
@placeholder reported that he spent the night "in my greatcoat and boots in a berth not long enough for me by a head, and much cramped," before he was rescued, Ellis said.