Camp David

Template:Short description Template:About Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox military installation Camp David is a Template:Convert country retreat for the president of the United States. It lies in the wooded hills of Catoctin Mountain Park, in Frederick County, Maryland, near the towns of Thurmont and Emmitsburg, about Template:Convert north-northwest of the national capital city, Washington, D.C.<ref>"Park Map Viewer". Catoctin Mountain Park. Retrieved on February 4, 2011.</ref><ref>"Thurmont town, Maryland Template:Webarchive". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved on February 4, 2011.</ref><ref name="Nomap">"Frequently Asked Questions". Catoctin Mountain Park, Retrieved on February 4, 2011. "10. Where is Camp David? The Presidential Retreat is within the park however, it is not open to the public and its location is not shown on our park maps for both security and privacy. If you're interested in historical information, visit our Presidential Retreat webpage."</ref> It is code-named Naval Support Facility Thurmont. Technically a military installation, it is staffed primarily by the Seabees, the Civil Engineer Corps (CEC), the United States Navy, and the United States Marine Corps. Naval construction battalions are tasked with Camp David construction and send detachments as needed.

Originally known as Hi-Catoctin, Camp David was built as a retreat for federal government agents and their families by the Works Progress Administration.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref> Construction started in 1935 and was completed in 1938.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt converted it to a presidential retreat and renamed it "Shangri-La", after the fictional Himalayan paradise.<ref name=":0" /> Camp David received its present name in 1953 from President Dwight D. Eisenhower, in honor of his father and his grandson, both named David.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

The Catoctin Mountain Park does not indicate the location of Camp David on park maps due to privacy and security concerns,<ref name="Nomap"/> although it can be seen through the use of publicly accessible satellite images, and is also viewable on certain public web mapping services like Google Maps.

Presidential use

File:Churchill-FDR-Shangri-La-1943.jpg

Winston Churchill and FDR at Shangri-La, May 1943

Camp David has been used to host private diplomatic meetings with foreign leaders and heads of state since at least World War II. Franklin D. Roosevelt hosted Winston Churchill at Shangri-La in May 1943, during World War II.<ref name="whitehouse1">Template:Cite web</ref> Dwight Eisenhower held his first cabinet meeting there on November 22, 1955, following hospitalization and convalescence he required after a heart attack suffered in Denver, Colorado, on September 24.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Eisenhower met Nikita Khrushchev there for two days of discussions in September 1959.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

File:JFK & Kids with horse at Camp David, 1963.png

President Kennedy, John F. Kennedy Jr., Caroline Kennedy (riding "Tex"). Camp David, MD.

John F. Kennedy and his family often enjoyed riding and other recreational activities there, and Kennedy often allowed White House staff and Cabinet members to use the retreat when he or his family were not there.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Lyndon B. Johnson met with advisors in this setting and hosted both Australian prime minister Harold Holt and Canadian prime minister Lester B. Pearson there.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Richard Nixon was a frequent visitor. He personally directed the construction of a swimming pool and other improvements to Aspen Lodge.<ref>W. Dale Nelson, The President is at Camp David (Syracuse University Press, 1995), pp. 69–94.</ref> Gerald Ford hosted Indonesian president Suharto at Camp David.<ref name="infoplease1">Template:Cite web</ref>

File:Ronald Reagan Jose Lopez Portillo Camp David 1981.jpg

U.S. President Ronald Reagan (left) and Mexican President José López Portillo (right) riding horses in Camp David, Maryland.

Jimmy Carter initially favored closing Camp David in order to save money, but once he visited the retreat, he decided to keep it.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Carter brokered the Camp David Accords there in September 1978 between Egyptian president Anwar al-Sadat and Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin.<ref name="whitehouse1"/> Ronald Reagan visited the retreat more than any other president.<ref name=":1" /> In 1984, Reagan hosted British prime minister Margaret Thatcher.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Reagan restored the nature trails that Nixon paved over so he could horseback ride at Camp David.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> George H. W. Bush's daughter, Dorothy Bush Koch, was married there in 1992, in the first wedding held at Camp David.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> During his tenure as president, Bill Clinton spent every Thanksgiving at Camp David with his family.Template:Sfn In July 2000, he hosted the 2000 Camp David Summit negotiations between Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian Authority chairman Yasser Arafat there.<ref name="retreat">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In February 2001, George W. Bush held his first meeting with a European leader, UK prime minister Tony Blair, at Camp David, to discuss missile defense, Iraq, and NATO.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> After the September 11 attacks, Bush held a Cabinet meeting at Camp David to prepare the United States invasion of Afghanistan.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> During his two terms in office, Bush visited Camp David 149 times, for a total of 487 days, for hosting foreign visitors as well as a personal retreat.Template:Sfn He met Blair there four times.Template:Sfn Among the numerous other foreign leaders he hosted at Camp DavidTemplate:Sfn were Russian president Vladimir Putin<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and President Musharraf of Pakistan in 2003,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Danish prime minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen in June 2006,<ref name="retreat"/> and British prime minister Gordon Brown in 2007.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Barack Obama chose Camp David to host the 38th G8 summit in 2012.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> President Obama also hosted Russian prime minister Dmitry Medvedev at Camp David,<ref>Template:Cite news Template:Cbignore</ref> as well as the GCC Summit there in 2015.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Donald Trump hosted Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell and Speaker of the House Paul Ryan at Camp David while the Republican Party prepared to defend both houses of Congress in the 2018 midterm elections.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Trump also planned to meet with the Taliban at Camp David to negotiate a peace agreement in 2019, but refrained after a suicide bombing in Kabul killed US troops.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The 46th G7 summit was to be held at Camp David on June 10–12, 2020, but was cancelled due to health concerns during what was at the time considered the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Joe Biden hosted the U.S.–Japan–Korea Summit with Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol at Camp David in August 2023, resulting in the declaration of the Camp David Principles on trilateral relations between the U.S., Japan, and South Korea.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Count of visits by each president

Presidential visits to Camp David<ref name=":1">Template:Cite book</ref>
President	No. of visits	Years in office
Roosevelt	Unknown	1933–1945
Truman	10	1945–1953
Eisenhower	45	1953–1961
Kennedy	19	1961–1963
Johnson	30	1963–1969
Nixon	160	1969–1974
Ford	29	1974–1977
Carter	99	1977–1981
Reagan	189	1981–1989
G. H. W. Bush	124	1989–1993
Clinton	60	1993–2001
G. W. Bush	150	2001–2009
Obama	39	2009–2017
Trump (first term)	15	2017–2021
Biden	39	2021–2025
Trump (second term)	0	2025–present

Practice golf facility

To be able to play his favorite sport, President Eisenhower had golf course architect Robert Trent Jones design a practice golf facility at Camp David. Around 1954, Jones built one golf hole—a par 3—with four different tees; Eisenhower added a Template:Convert driving range near the helicopter landing zone.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Security incidents

File:Baltimore-Washington TAC 84.png

Aviation chart showing restricted airspace in the Washington DC area. Camp David is the light circle to the north.

On July 2, 2011, an F-15 intercepted a civilian aircraft approximately Template:Convert from Camp David, when President Obama was in the residence. The two-seater, which was out of radio communication, was escorted to nearby Hagerstown, Maryland, without incident.<ref>Template:Cite news Template:Dead link Template:Cbignore</ref>

On July 10, 2011, an F-15 intercepted another small plane near Camp David when Obama was again in the residence; a total of three were intercepted that weekend.<ref name="washpostf151">Template:Cite news</ref>Template:Clear

References

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Works cited

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External links

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Template:White House Military Office Template:Official Government residences in North America and the Caribbean Template:White House Template:Authority control