Presidential Visits Abroad
Preface
Visits Abroad of the Presidents of the United States, 1906-1997,
prepared by the Office of the Historian, Bureau of Public Affairs, presents basic
information concerning trips taken outside the United States by the President of
the United States. It includes the first visit abroad, made by President Theodore
Roosevelt, through President William Clinton's foreign travels in December 1997.
Entries cover all official visits to foreign countries made by U.S. Presidents during their tenure as President or President-elect. They also include instances of unofficial travel to foreign countries by a President or President-elect for vacation purposes, when information concerning such visits is available. Coverage, however, does not include Presidential trips to U.S. territories overseas, days spent at sea in international waters, or stops at uninhabited islands.
Entries include the name of the President, the country and the city (locale) or dependent area visited, the inclusive dates of the visit, and highlights relating to each visit. When a locale is mentioned for a dependent area, the dependent area appears in parentheses. When multiple locales appear, they are in the order visited. Under the highlights section the characterization of a visit as "state," "official," "informal," or "private" is given on the basis of official announcements at the time. A state or official visit is one made at the invitation of a foreign chief of state. Visits made as President-elect are indicated in brackets in the highlights section of that entry.
The visits are listed in two separate sections: (1) chronologically by President and (2) alphabetically by host country.
In the first, dates indicated for each President are for the President's complete tenure in office. In the second, visits to dependent territories (the Colonial territories and possessions of the former European colonial world empires - See 'The Succession of the World Empires' for more) are included under the country having sovereignty over the territory at the time of the visit. For example, visits to Bermuda are found under the United Kingdom. In the country section, entries for countries that no longer exist have been moved under the name of the successor state and cross references provided as needed. In the entries under the Presidents, the name of the country as it was at the time of the visit has been retained. The names and spellings of cities in both sections remain as they were at the time of the visit.
The data presented here was collected by Evan M. Duncan of the Special Projects Division, Office of the Historian, and prepared for electronic publication by and James N. McElveen, Vicki E. Futscher, and Rita Baker. (State Department)
January 4, 1919
Woodrow Wilson
Audience with Pope Benedict XV.
December 6, 1959
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Audience with Pope John XXIII.
July 2, 1963
John F. Kennedy
Audience with Pope Paul VI.
December 23, 1967
Lyndon B. Johnson
Audience with Pope Paul VI.
March 2, 1969
Richard M. Nixon
Audience with Pope Paul VI.
September 28, 1970
Richard M. Nixon
Audience with Pope Paul VI.
June 3, 1975
Gerald R. Ford
Audience with Pope Paul VI.
June 21, 1980
Jimmy Carter
Audience with Pope John Paul II.
June 7, 1982
Ronald Reagan
Audience with Pope John Paul II.
June 6, 1987
Ronald Reagan
Audience with Pope John Paul II.
May 27, 1989
George H. W. Bush
Audience with Pope John Paul II.
November 8, 1991
George Bush
Audience with Pope John Paul II.
June 2, 1994
William J. Clinton
Audience with Pope John Paul II.
(Some time during the period March-June 2002)
George W. Bush
Audience with Pope John Paul II (after the 2002 NATO Rome Summit).
PRESIDENTIAL VISITS TO THE VATICAN DURING THE PERIOD 1906
Foreign Travels of the Secretary of State,
(1866 - February 2002)
Preface
Foreign Travels of the Secretary of State, 1866-February 2002, prepared by the Office of the Historian, Bureau of Public Affairs, presents basic information concerning trips taken outside the United States by the Secretary of State. It includes the first visit of a Secretary abroad in January 1866 (that of William Henry Seward to the Virgin Islands, then a colony of Denmark, and other points in the Caribbean) to the foreign travels of Colin L. Powell through February 2002.
Entries cover both official and unofficial travel of the Secretary, including foreign visits taken for vacation purposes, when information concerning such visits is available. Coverage, however, does not include trips to U.S. territories overseas, days spent at sea in international waters, or stops at uninhabited islands. Refueling stops outside the United States during transoceanic flights are not included unless the Secretary met with foreign dignitaries, delivered a speech, or transacted other business.
Entries include the name of the Secretary, the country and the city (locale) or dependent area visited, and the inclusive dates of the visit. When multiple locales appear, they are in the order visited. The last line of each entry includes highlights relating to each visit, such as meetings with foreign dignitaries, international conferences attended, or other purposes of the visit. When a visit was taken in conjunction with a presidential visit, it is so indicated.
The visits are listed in two separate sections:
(1) chronologically by Secretary of State; and
(2) alphabetically
by host country. In the first, dates indicated for each
Secretary are for the Secretary's complete tenure in office. In
the second, visits to dependent territories are included under
the country having sovereignty over the territory at the time of
the visit. For example, visits to Algeria prior to 1962, when it
gained independence, are under France.
In the country section, entries for countries that no longer exist have been
moved under the name of the successor state and cross
references provided as needed. In the entries under the
Secretaries, the name of the country as it was at the time of
the visit has been retained. In both sections names and
spellings of cities remain as they were at the time of the visit.
The data presented here was collected by Evan M. Duncan of the Special Projects Division, Office of the Historian, and prepared for electronic publication by and James N. McElveen, Vicki E. Futscher, and Rita Baker.
October 23, 1955
John Foster Dulles
Audience with Pope Pius XII.
October 19, 1958
John Foster Dulles
Attended funeral ceremonies for Pope Pius XII.
March 2, 1969
William P. Rogers
Accompanied President Nixon.
July 11, 1972
William P. Rogers
Audience with Pope Paul VI.
July 6, 1974
Henry A. Kissinger
Audience with Pope Paul VI.
(and more recently with Pope Benedict XVI)
May 29, 1979
Cyrus R. Vance
Audience with Pope John Paul II.
June 21, 1980
Edmund S. Muskie
Accompanied President Carter.
June 7, 1982
Alexander M. Haig, Jr.
Accompanied President Reagan.
March 29, 1986
George P. Shultz
Audience with Pope John Paul II.
April 2, 1988
George P. Shultz
Audience with Pope John Paul II.
May 27, 1989
James A. Baker, III
Audience with Pope John Paul II.
March 7, 1998
Madeleine K. Albright
Discussed the Kosovo crisis with Pope John Paul II.
March 24, 1998
Madeleine K. Albright
Discussed the Kosovo crisis and the situation in Cuba with
Vatican officials.
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Recent (2000-2009) presidential meetings with Pope John Paul II and Benedict XVI (Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger) include President George W. Bush both at the Vatican and at the White House (2008), and previously, his Russian counterpart, President Vladimir Putin (c. 2000). The last Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev also met with Pope John Paul II in Dec. 1989.
President Barack Obama is due to meet with Pope Benedict XVI after the 2009 G8 Summit (8-10 July 2009) in L'Aquila, Italy on the 10th July 2009 ?
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