The American Legion's 88th annual national convention is scheduled to be held at the Salt Palace from Aug. 25-31. On the day of the presidential visit, a general session is planned from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m.

During the convention, an estimated 14,500 attendees could fill as many as 4,000 area hotel rooms, according to Salt Lake Convention and Visitors Bureau spokeswoman Karen Boe.

Utah Republicans hope to make the most of Bush's election-year visit, possibly lining up campaign appearances on behalf of Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and other GOP candidates on the November ballot.

"Generally, in an election year, it's rare for the president to make an appearance in Utah, simply because we're such a red state and we have so few electoral votes that the time is better spent elsewhere," said Jeff Hartley, executive director of the Utah Republican Party.

Hartley said any political efforts by the president are "yet to be determined. We will certainly see if that can be arranged."

"Obviously, there are a lot of party faithful who would love to see him, and we'd love to have him stump for candidates," he added.

Hatch, who would likely be back in the state during the August congressional recess, has nothing on his schedule related to the visit at this time, said his spokesman, Peter Carr. Hatch's campaign office declined to comment.

Republican Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr.'s spokesman, Mike Mower, said that "our office can neither confirm nor deny any White House visit. However, we would certainly welcome any visit by President Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to Utah."

A spokesman for the White House, Peter Watkins, said the president's schedule typically is not confirmed until about a week before a trip. Based on this policy, he said he could not confirm if the president would be visiting Utah.

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Contributing: Suzanne Struglinski

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