IT WOULD only be natural to raise an eyebrow in disbelief at the thought of Barack Obama meeting up with American secret agents at a house on Waterloo Road.
That's because he hasn't - but if he did he would be following in the footsteps of former President Theodore Roosevelt some 150 years ago.
It all started around the American Civil War in 1861 when esteemed former-naval officer James Bulloch volunteered his services as a secret foreign representative in Liverpool. James had a brother called Irvine and the two were both uncles of the former US President Roosevelt.
He sailed with his family to Liverpool before taking lodgings at the 'Liver Inn' in Waterloo and then leased a Marine Terrace house, where he arranged and co-ordinated the building of the famous CSS Alabama, a secret American Confederate military ship built in Birkenhead ordered to prey on Union shipping.
During the Civil War, the Alabama boarded nearly 450 vessels, captured or burned 65 Union merchant ships, and took more than 2,000 prisoners without a single loss of life from either prisoners or her own crew.
When the Civil War ended, James was so comfortable in the area, he decided to stay at Waterloo in Wellington St where he made his fortune in the cotton trade. If you go down to St John's Church the first four names on the baptismal register are his children.
In 1869 one of the greatest US Presidents to-be, Theodore Roosevelt brought his family to Waterloo to meet James Bullock and family at 12 Wellington Street in an emotional reunion because they hadnt seen each other for some time.
Roosevelt mentioned his Waterloo-based uncles in his autobiography: “Both of my uncles lived in Liverpool after the war. Jimmy (James Bullock)was one of the best men I have ever known. He could discuss all phases of the Civil War with entire fairness and generosity.”
Local historian Bob Jones told the Champion: “I would like to see more people realise what actually happened on their doorstep in Waterloo and Crosby.
"When they walk the dog or go to the shops, they tread the exact same paths as these wonderful historic figures. When you think of it that way - the history just becomes alive to you.“
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