Who were the first Member of Congress and U.S. President to have real communication with a deaf person?

Answer:
Henry Clay, Speaker of the House (1777-1852), and President James Monroe (1758-1831, fifth President, 1817-1825). When Laurent Clerc came to Washington, D.C. in 1818, to request Congressional funding for the American Asylum in Hartford (“Old Hartford,” now American School for the Deaf, which had opened on April 15, 1817), he addressed Congress in his customary French Sign Language, and received a standing ovation. Afterwards, he met with Clay. The next day, he met President Monroe.

What was especially interesting about these encounters?

Answer:
Clay recalled seeing Clerc at one of the Abbé Sicard’s public demonstrations in London. (It was at one of these demonstrations that Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet first saw Clerc and Sicard—an encounter that was to have profound significance in Deaf history.) And President Monroe told Clerc that he had seen him carrying on a vigorous signed conversation—probably with Jean Massieu—in a Parisian café near the National Institute, during his stint as Minister to France (1794-96).

How did they communicate?

Answer:
Clerc communicated with Clay by writing notes back and forth in French and English, and similarly with President Monroe.