Twelve United States presidents have made presidential visits to the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. The first visit by an incumbent president to the United Kingdom was made in December 1918 by Woodrow Wilson, and was an offshoot of American diplomatic interactions with the Principal Allied Powers at the conclusion of World War I prior to the Paris Peace Conference. The first visit by an incumbent president to the island of Ireland was made in June 1963 by John F. Kennedy when he visited the Republic of Ireland. To date, 40 visits have been made to the United Kingdom and 11 to Ireland.
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The United States is bound together with both the island of Ireland and the island of Great Britain by shared history, an overlap in religion and a common language and legal system, plus kinship ties that reach back hundreds of years, including kindred, ancestral lines among Cornish Americans, English Americans, Manx Americans, Irish Americans, Scotch-Irish Americans, Scottish Americans, Welsh Americans, and American Britons respectively.
Table of visits
edit| President | Dates | Country | Locations | Key events |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Woodrow Wilson | December 26–28, 1918 |  United Kingdom
|
London, Carlisle, Manchester |
Met with King George V and Prime Minister David Lloyd George.[1] |
| Harry S. Truman | August 2, 1945 | Plymouth | Informal meeting with King George VI.[2] | |
| Dwight D. Eisenhower | August 27 – September 2, 1959 | London, Balmoral, Chequers |
Informal visit. Met with Prime Minister Harold Macmillan and Queen Elizabeth II.[3] | |
| September 4–7, 1959 | Culzean Castle | Rested before returning to the United States.[3] | ||
| John F. Kennedy | June 4–5, 1961 | London | Private visit. Met with Prime Minister Harold Macmillan and Queen Elizabeth II.[4] | |
| June 26–29, 1963 |  Ireland
|
Dublin, Wexford, Cork, Galway, Limerick |
First visit to the island of Ireland by an incumbent U.S. President. Addressed the Oireachtas. Visited ancestral home.[5] | |
| June 29–30, 1963 | United Kingdom
|
Birch Grove | Informal visit with Prime Minister Harold Macmillan at his home.[4] | |
| Richard Nixon | February 24–26, 1969 | London | Informal visit. Delivered several public addresses.[6] | |
| August 3, 1969 | RAF Mildenhall | Informal meeting with Prime Minister Harold Wilson.[6] | ||
| October 3, 1970 | Chequers | Met informally with Queen Elizabeth II and Prime Minister Edward Heath.[6] | ||
| October 3–5, 1970 | Ireland
|
Limerick, Timahoe, Dublin |
State visit. Met with Taoiseach Jack Lynch.[6] | |
| Jimmy Carter | May 5–11, 1977 | United Kingdom
|
London, Newcastle, Sunderland |
Attended the 3rd G7 summit. Also met with the Prime Ministers of Greece, Belgium, Turkey, Norway, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg, and with the President of Portugal. Addressed the NATO Ministers meeting.[7] |
| Ronald Reagan | June 7–9, 1982 | London, Windsor Castle |
Met with Queen Elizabeth II and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Addressed Parliament.[8][9] | |
| June 1–4, 1984 | Ireland
|
Shannon, Galway, Ballyporeen, Dublin | Met with President Patrick Hillery and Taoiseach Garret FitzGerald. Visited ancestral home. Addressed the Oireachtas.[8] | |
| June 4–10, 1984 | United Kingdom
|
London | Met with Queen Elizabeth II and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Attended the 10th G7 summit.[8] | |
| June 2–3, 1988 | Met with Queen Elizabeth II, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and Japanese Prime Minister Noboru Takeshita.[8] | |||
| George H. W. Bush | May 31–June 2, 1989 | Met with Queen Elizabeth II and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.[10] | ||
| July 5–6, 1990 | Attended NATO Summit Meeting.[10] | |||
| July 14–18, 1991 | Attended the 17th G7 summit. Also met with Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev.[10] | |||
| Bill Clinton | June 4–5, 1994 | Cambridge, London, Portsmouth |
Visited U.S. Military Cemetery. Met with Prime Minister John Major. Attended state dinner with Queen Elizabeth II and heads of state and government of Canada, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Australia, New Zealand, Norway and Belgium. Attended the 50th anniversary of D-Day commemorative ceremonies.[11] | |
| June 8, 1994 | Oxford | Received honorary degree from Oxford University.[11] | ||
| November 28– December 1, 1995 |
London, Belfast, Derry |
Met with Queen Elizabeth II and Prime Minister John Major. Laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior in Westminster Abbey. Addressed a joint session of the British Parliament. Became the first incumbent President to visit Northern Ireland, where he made several public addresses before travelling on to the Republic of Ireland.[11] | ||
| December 1–2, 1995 | Ireland
|
Dublin | Arrived from Northern Ireland. He met with President Mary Robinson and Taoiseach John Bruton.[11] | |
| May 28–29, 1997 | United Kingdom
|
London | Met with Prime Minister Tony Blair and attended a Cabinet meeting.[11] | |
| May 14–18, 1998 | Birmingham, Weston-under-Lizard, London |
Attended the 24th G8 summit and the U.S.-EU Summit Meeting.[11] | ||
| September 3, 1998 | Belfast, Armagh, Omagh |
Part of a general visit to the island of Ireland. Met with Prime Minister Tony Blair and Northern Irish political leaders. Addressed the Northern Ireland Assembly.[11] | ||
| September 3–5, 1998 | Ireland
|
Dublin, Adare, Limerick, Ballybunion |
Met with Taoiseach Bertie Ahern. Delivered several public addresses and played golf.[11] | |
| December 12, 2000 | Dublin, Dundalk |
Met with Taoiseach Bertie Ahern. Delivered several public addresses.[11] | ||
| December 12–14, 2000 | United Kingdom
|
Belfast, London, Coventry |
Met with Prime Minister Tony Blair and Northern Irish political leaders in Belfast. Met with Queen Elizabeth II; made a speech at the University of Warwick.[11] | |
| George W. Bush | July 18–20, 2001 | London, Chequers, Halton, Brize Norton |
Met with Prime Minister Tony Blair and Queen Elizabeth II.[12] | |
| April 7–8, 2003 | Belfast, Hillsborough |
Only visited Northern Ireland. Met with Prime Minister Tony Blair at Hillsborough Castle to discuss the reconstruction of Iraq. Also met with the Irish Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and Northern Irish political leaders.[12] | ||
| November 18–21, 2003 | London, Sedgefield |
State visit. Met with Queen Elizabeth II, laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior in Westminster Abbey, gave an address at Banqueting House, and accompanied Prime Minister Blair on a tour of the latter's constituency in Sedgefield.[12] | ||
| June 25–26, 2004 | Ireland
|
Shannon, Dromoland Castle |
Attended the U.S.-EU summit meeting. Met with Taoiseach Bertie Ahern.[12] | |
| July 6–8, 2005 | United Kingdom
|
Gleneagles | Attended the 31st G8 summit.[12] | |
| February 28, 2006 | Ireland
|
Shannon | Met with U.S. Marines who were en route to Iraq.[12] | |
| June 15–16, 2008 | United Kingdom
|
London, Windsor Castle, Belfast |
Met with Queen Elizabeth II at Windsor Castle. Met with Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Quartet Representative Tony Blair. In Belfast, met with the Northern Ireland First Minister Peter Robinson and the Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness.[12] | |
| Barack Obama | March 31–April 3, 2009 | London | Met with Queen Elizabeth II and Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Attended the G-20 summit meeting.[13][14] | |
| May 23, 2011 | Ireland
|
Dublin, Moneygall |
Met with President Mary McAleese and Taoiseach Enda Kenny. Visited ancestral home. | |
| May 23–26, 2011 | United Kingdom
|
London | State visit. Met with Queen Elizabeth II. Laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior in Westminster Abbey. Addressed a joint session of the British Parliament. Met with Prime Minister David Cameron and Labour Party leader Ed Miliband.[13] | |
| June 17–18, 2013 | Belfast, Lough Erne |
Attended the 39th G8 summit in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland.[13] | ||
| September 4–5, 2014 | Newport | Attended the NATO Summit Meeting.[13] | ||
| April 21–24, 2016 | London, Windsor Castle, Watford |
Met with Queen Elizabeth II at Windsor Castle. Met with Prime Minister David Cameron and Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn. | ||
| Donald Trump | July 12–15, 2018 | London, Blenheim Palace, Chequers, Windsor Castle, Aberdeen, South Ayrshire |
Met with Prime Minister Theresa May. Met with Queen Elizabeth II at Windsor Castle. Spent weekend at his Turnberry golf resort in Scotland. | |
| June 3–5, 2019 | London, Portsmouth |
State visit. Met with Queen Elizabeth II. Laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior in Westminster Abbey. Met with Prime Minister Theresa May. Attended the 75th anniversary of D-Day commemorative ceremonies. | ||
| June 5–6, 2019 | Ireland
|
Shannon, County Clare |
Met with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar. Spent one night at his international golf resort in Doonbeg, County Clare. | |
| June 6–7, 2019 | Shannon, County Clare |
Spent another night at his international golf resort in Doonbeg. | ||
| December 2–4, 2019 | United Kingdom
|
Watford, London |
Attended the NATO Summit Meeting. | |
| Joe Biden | June 10–13, 2021 | London, Carbis Bay, Windsor Castle |
Attended the 47th G7 summit. Met with Queen Elizabeth II at Windsor Castle. | |
| November 1–2, 2021 | Glasgow | Attended the United Nations Climate Change Conference. | ||
| September 17–19, 2022 | London | Attended the state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II. Met with King Charles III. | ||
| April 11–12, 2023 | Belfast | Arrived at Belfast International Airport at Aldergrove. Visited Belfast as part of the 25th anniversary celebrations of the Good Friday Agreement (GFA). Met with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. Spoke at the new Ulster University campus at York Street in Belfast city centre. | ||
| April 12–14, 2023 | Ireland
|
Dublin, Carlingford, Dundalk, Knock, Ballina | Met with President Michael D. Higgins, at Áras an Uachtaráin, and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, at Farmleigh House. Addressed the Oireachtas. Visited ancestral homes in County Louth and County Mayo. | |
| July 10–12, 2023 | United Kingdom
|
London, Windsor |
Met with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. Met with King Charles III at Windsor Castle. |
Gallery
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See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Travels of President Woodrow Wilson". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
- ^ "Travels of President Harry S. Truman". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
- ^ a b "Travels of President Dwight D. Eisenhower". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
- ^ a b "Travels of President John F. Kennedy". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
- ^ "1963: Warm welcome for JFK in Ireland". BBC News. June 27, 1963. Retrieved February 23, 2012.
- ^ a b c d "Travels of President Richard M. Nixon". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
- ^ "Travels of President Jimmy Carter". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
- ^ a b c d "Travels of President Ronald Reagan". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
- ^ "Inward State Visits Since 1952" (PDF). The Royal Household (UK). Retrieved 14 February 2017.
- ^ a b c "Travels of President George H. W. Bush". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Travels of President William J. Clinton". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Travels of President George W. Bush". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
- ^ a b c d "Travels of President Barack Obama". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
- ^ "London Summit". Archived from the original on 2009-04-23. Retrieved 2009-04-23.
External links
edit- Visits of Presidents of the United States to the United Kingdom, website of the U.S. Embassy and Consulates in the United Kingdom