Six United States presidents have made presidential visits to Sub-Saharan Africa. The first was an offshoot of Franklin D. Roosevelt's secretive World War II trip to French Morocco for the Casablanca Conference. Of the 46 African nations identified as sub-Saharan by the United Nations, [1] 16 have been visited by an American president.
President | Dates | Country or territory | Locations | Key details |
---|---|---|---|---|
Franklin D. Roosevelt | January 13, 1943 | Gambia | Bathurst | Overnight stop en route to Casablanca. [2] |
January 25, 1943 | Overnight stop en route from Casablanca. [2] | |||
January 26–27, 1943 | Liberia | Monrovia | Informal visit; met with President Edwin Barclay. [2] | |
December 9, 1943 | French West Africa | Dakar | Stopped en route home to U.S. after conferring with General Dwight D. Eisenhower in Tunis, Tunisia, following Tehran Conference and Second Cairo Conference. [2] | |
Jimmy Carter | March 31–April 3, 1978 | Nigeria | Lagos | State visit; Met with President Olusegun Obasanjo. [3] |
April 3, 1978 | Liberia | Monrovia | Met with President William R. Tolbert, Jr. [3] | |
George H. W. Bush | December 31, 1992–January 2, 1993 | Somalia | Mogadishu, Baidoa, Baledogle Airfield | Visited international relief workers and U.S. military personnel. |
Bill Clinton | March 23, 1998 | Ghana | Accra | Met with President Jerry Rawlings; visited a Peace Corps project. [4] |
March 23–25, 1998 | Uganda | Kampala, Kisowera, Mukono, Wanyange, Entebbe | Met with President Yoweri Museveni and with the Presidents of Ethiopia, Rwanda, Tanzania, Kenya, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. [4] | |
March 25, 1998 | Rwanda | Kigali | Met with President Pasteur Bizimungu; delivered a public address. [4] | |
March 25–29, 1998 | South Africa | Cape Town, Johannesburg | Met with President Nelson Mandela; addressed joint session of Parliament. [4] | |
March 29–31, 1998 | Botswana | Gaborone, Kasane | Met with President Quett Masire; visited Chobe National Park. [4] | |
March 31–April 2, 1998 | Senegal | Dakar, Thies, Goree Island | Met with President Abdou Diouf; visited Senegalese peacekeeping troops; delivered several public addresses. [4] | |
August 26–28, 2000 | Nigeria | Abuja, Ushafa, Abuja | Met with President Obasanjo and addressed the National Assembly. [4] | |
August 28–29, 2000 | Tanzania | Arusha | Met with former South African President Mandela to promote a peace agreement for Burundi; also met with President Benjamin Mkapa. [4] | |
George W. Bush | July 8, 2003 | Senegal | Dakar, Goree Island | Met with President Abdoulaye Wade. [5] |
July 8–11, 2003 | South Africa | Pretoria | Met with President Thabo Mbeki. [5] | |
July 10, 2003 | Botswana | Gaborone | Met with President Festus Mogae. Toured Mokolodi Nature Reserve. [5] | |
July 11, 2003 | Uganda | Kampala | Met with President Yoweri Museveni. [5] | |
July 11–12, 2003 | Nigeria | Abuja | Met with President Olusegun Obasanjo. [5] | |
February 16, 2008 | Benin | Cotonou | Met with President Yayi Boni. [5] | |
February 16–19, 2008 | Tanzania | Dar es Salaam, Arusha | Met with President Jakaya Kikwete, signed Millenimum Challenge agreement. [5] | |
February 19, 2008 | Rwanda | Kigali | Met with President Paul Kagame and dedicated new embassy. [5] | |
February 19–21, 2008 | Ghana | Accra | Met with President John Kufuor. [5] | |
February 21, 2008 | Liberia | Monrovia | Met with President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. [5] | |
Barack Obama | July 10–11, 2009 | Ghana | Accra | Met with President John Atta Mills. Delivered a speech to the Ghanaian Parliament. Toured a former departing point of the trans-Atlantic slave trade, the Cape Coast Castle. [6] |
June 26–28, 2013 | Senegal | Dakar | Met with President Macky Sall. [6] | |
June 28–July 1, 2013 | South Africa | Johannesburg, Pretoria, Soweto, Cape Town | Met with President Jacob Zuma and with members of the Mandela family; gave a speech on trade and investment, development, democracy and security partnerships; visited Robben Island. [6] [7] | |
July 1–2, 2013 | Tanzania | Dar es Salaam | Met with President Jakaya Kikwete. Laid a wreath at the memorial to the 1998 United States embassy bombing. [6] Participated in trade and investment discussions; accompanied by business leaders. [7] | |
July 2, 2013 | Senegal | Dakar | Stopped during return to Washington D.C. [6] | |
December 9–11, 2013 | South Africa | Johannesburg | Attended the memorial service for former President Nelson Mandela. | |
July 24–26, 2015 | Kenya | Nairobi | Attended the 2015 Global Entrepreneurship Summit. Also met with President Uhuru Kenyatta. [8] | |
July 26–28, 2015 | Ethiopia | Addis Ababa | Met with the government of Ethiopia and addressed the African Union. [9] [10] | |
Joe Biden | December 2, 2024 | Cabo Verde | Sal | Met with Prime Minister Ulisses Correia e Silva. |
December 2–4, 2024 | Angola | Luanda Province | Met with President João Lourenço and hosted G7 summit on Lobito Trans-Africa Corridor. |
The current United States Ambassador to the Holy See is Joe Donnelly, who replaced the ad interim Chargé d'Affaires, Patrick Connell, on April 11, 2021. The Holy See is represented by its apostolic nuncio, Cardinal Christophe Pierre, who assumed office on April 12, 2016. The U.S. Embassy to the Holy See is located in Rome, in the Villa Domiziana. The Nunciature to the United States is located in Washington, D.C., at 3339 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W.
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There have been 41 United States presidential visits to Canada by 14 presidents over the past century. As the U.S. president is both head of state and head of government, these visits have taken many forms, ranging from formal state visits to official visits, working visits, or private visits.
Fifteen presidents of the United States have made thirty-four presidential visits to Mexico. The first visit by an incumbent president to Mexico was made in 1909 by William Howard Taft. It was only the second time in U.S. history that a president left the country while in office.
Ten United States presidents have made presidential visits to Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. The first trip by an incumbent president to Eastern Europe was made by Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1945, to the Soviet Union, and was an offshoot of Allied diplomatic interactions during World War II. The first trip by an incumbent president to Northern Asia was made by Gerald Ford in 1974, also to the Soviet Union, and was an offshoot of U.S.–Soviet Détente during the Cold War. The first presidential visits to other Eastern European countries occurred during this era of easing geo-political tensions as well.
Several United States presidents have made presidential visits to Australia and New Zealand. The first visit by an incumbent to these Australasian nations was made in 1966 by Lyndon B. Johnson. His three-day five-city visit to Australia was intended as a show of gratitude to the Australian nation for its then emphatic support for the Vietnam War. Four presidents have traveled there since. Prior to arriving in Australia, Johnson visited New Zealand. He went primarily to shore up support for the war in Vietnam. Only one sitting president has visited since.
Eleven United States presidents and three presidents-elect have made thirty-four presidential visits to Central America. The first visit by an incumbent president to a country in Central America was made in 1906 by Theodore Roosevelt. The trip, to Panama, was the first international presidential trip in U.S. history, and signaled the start of a new era in how presidents conducted diplomatic relations with other countries. In 1928, Herbert Hoover, during the time when he was president-elect, visited the region during his historic "good will" trip, to Central and South America.
Nine presidents of the United States have made presidential visits to North Africa. The first trips by a sitting president to countries in North Africa were those of Franklin D. Roosevelt, and were an offshoot of Allied diplomatic interactions during World War II. Of the five countries in the region, only Libya has not yet been visited by an American president.
Ten United States presidents have made presidential visits to the Middle East. The first trips by an incumbent president to countries in the Middle East were those by Franklin D. Roosevelt, and were an offshoot of Allied diplomatic interactions during World War II. To date, 16 visits have been made to Egypt, 12 to Saudi Arabia, 11 to Israel, six to both Iraq, Jordan and Turkey, four to Iran, three to the Palestinian Territories, two to both Kuwait and Syria, one to Bahrain, Georgia, Oman, Qatar, and to the United Arab Emirates. No incumbent American president has yet visited Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cyprus, Lebanon, and Yemen.
Eleven United States presidents and one president-elect have made presidential visits to South America. The first trip was made by Herbert Hoover in 1928. During this tour he delivered twenty-five speeches in ten Central and South American countries, almost all of which stressed his plans to reduce American political and military interference in Latin American affairs. In sum, he pledged that the United States would act as a "good neighbor."
Nine United States presidents and one president-elect have made presidential visits to the Caribbean since 1928. Franklin D. Roosevelt made the most trips to the Caribbean islands (14), either for vacation or while involved with Allied diplomatic interactions during World War II. Of the 13 sovereign countries in the region, four—Dominica, the Dominican Republic, Saint Kitts and Nevis, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines—have not as of yet been visited by an American president.
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.
Eight presidents of the United States have made presidential visits to South Asia. The first trip by a sitting president to South Asia was by Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1959. Of the eight countries in the region, only 4 of them have been visited by a sitting American president: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India and Pakistan. The other four countries, Bhutan, the Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka, have never been visited by a sitting American president.
Thirteen United States presidents have made presidential visits to Southern Europe. Woodrow Wilson became the first incumbent president to visit a Southern European country in January 1919 in the aftermath of World War I. Visits occurring during the 1940s through 1980s were offshoots of American diplomatic interactions during World War II and then the Cold War.
Thirteen United States presidents have made presidential visits to Western Europe. The first visits by an incumbent president to countries in Western Europe were made in 1918 and 1919 by Woodrow Wilson in the aftermath of World War I. He was awarded the 1919 Nobel Peace Prize for his peacemaking efforts. Visits occurring during the 1940s through 1980s were offshoots of American diplomatic interactions following World War II and during the Cold War. To date, 41 visits have been made to France, 32 to Germany, 21 to Belgium, 11 to Switzerland, six to Austria, and five to the Netherlands. No president has yet visited Liechtenstein, Luxembourg or Monaco.