Thirteen United States presidents have made presidential visits to Western Europe. [lower-alpha 1] 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. [2] 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 (including 10 specifically to West Germany or West Berlin), 21 to Belgium, 11 to Switzerland, six to Austria, and five to the Netherlands. No president has yet visited Liechtenstein, Luxembourg or Monaco.
President | Dates | Countries | Locations | Key details |
---|---|---|---|---|
Woodrow Wilson [3] | December 14–25, 1918 | France | Paris, Chaumont | Attended preliminary discussions prior to the Paris Peace Conference; promoted his Fourteen Points principles for world peace. Departed the U.S. December 4. |
December 31, 1918 – January 1, 1919 | Paris | Stopover en route to Italy. | ||
January 7–14, 1919 | Attended Paris Peace Conference. Arrived In the U.S. February 24. | |||
March 14 – June 18, 1919 | Attended Paris Peace Conference. Departed the U.S. March 5. | |||
June 18–19, 1919 | Belgium | Brussels, Charleroi, Malines, Louvain | Met with King Albert I. Addressed Parliament, following Paris Peace Conference. | |
June 20–28, 1919 | France | Paris | Attended the Paris Peace Conference. Returned to the U.S. on July 8. | |
Harry S. Truman [4] | July 15, 1945 | Belgium | Antwerp, Brussels | Disembarked en route to Potsdam. |
July 16 – August 2, 1945 | Germany | Berlin, Potsdam | Attended Potsdam Conference with British Prime Ministers Winston Churchill and Clement Attlee and Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin. | |
Dwight D. Eisenhower [5] | July 16–23, 1955 | Switzerland | Geneva | Attended summit meeting with British Prime Minister Anthony Eden, French Premier Edgar Faure and Soviet Premier Nikolai Bulganin. |
December 14–19, 1957 | France | Paris | Attended the First NATO summit. | |
August 26–27, 1959 | West Germany | Bonn | Informal meeting with Chancellor Konrad Adenauer and President Theodor Heuss. | |
September 2–4, 1959 | France | Paris | Informal Meeting with President Charles de Gaulle and Italian Prime Minister Antonio Segni. Addressed North Atlantic Council. | |
December 18–21, 1959 | Toulon, Paris | Conference with President Charles de Gaulle, British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan and German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer. | ||
May 15–19, 1960 | Paris | Conference with President Charles de Gaulle, British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev. | ||
John F. Kennedy [6] | May 31 – June 3, 1961 | State Visit. Addressed North Atlantic Council. Met with President Charles de Gaulle. | ||
June 3–4, 1961 | Austria | Vienna | Met with President Adolf Schärf. held talks with Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev. | |
June 23–26, 1963 | West Germany | Bonn, Cologne, Frankfurt, Wiesbaden, West Berlin | Met with Chancellor Adenauer and other officials. Delivered several public addresses. | |
Lyndon B. Johnson [7] | April 23–26, 1967 | Bonn | Attended funeral of Chancellor Adenauer and conversed with various heads of state. | |
Richard Nixon [8] | February 23–24, 1969 | Belgium | Brussels | Attended the 23rd meeting of North Atlantic Council. Met with King Baudouin I. |
February 26–27, 1969 | West Germany | Bonn, West Berlin | Addressed the Bundestag. | |
February 28 – March 2, 1969 | France | Paris | Met with President Charles de Gaulle. | |
November 12, 1970 | Attended the memorial services for former President Charles de Gaulle. | |||
May 20–22, 1972 | Austria | Salzburg | Informal visit. Met with Chancellor Bruno Kreisky. | |
April 5–7, 1974 | France | Paris | Attended the memorial services for former President Georges Pompidou. Met afterward with interim President Alain Poher, Italian President Giovanni Leone, British Prime Minister Harold Wilson, West German Chancellor Willy Brandt, Danish Prime Minister Poul Hartling, Soviet head of state Nikolai Podgorny and Japanese Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka. | |
June 10–12, 1974 | Austria | Salzburg | Met with Chancellor Bruno Kreisky. | |
June 25–26, 1974 | Belgium | Brussels | Attended the 2nd NATO Summit Meeting. Met separately with King Baudouin I and Queen Fabiola, Prime Minister Leo Tindemans, and with German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt, British Prime Minister Harold Wilson and Italian Prime Minister Mariano Rumor. | |
Gerald R. Ford [9] | May 28–31, 1975 | Attended the 3rd NATO Summit Meeting. Addressed the North Atlantic Council and met separately with NATO Heads of State and Government. | ||
June 1–3, 1975 | Austria | Salzburg | Met with Chancellor Bruno Kreisky and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat. | |
July 26–28, 1975 | West Germany | Bonn Linz am Rhein | Met with President Walter Scheel and Chancellor Helmut Schmidt. | |
November 15–17, 1975 | France | Rambouillet | Attended the 1st G6 summit. | |
Jimmy Carter [10] | January 4–6, 1978 | France | Paris, Normandy, Bayeux, Versailles | Met with President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing and Prime Minister Raymond Barre. |
January 6, 1978 | Belgium | Brussels | Met with King Baudouin and Prime Minister Leo Tindemans. Attended meetings of the Commission of the European Communities and the North Atlantic Council. | |
July 14–15, 1978 | West Germany | Bonn, Wiesbaden-Erbenheim, Frankfurt, West Berlin | State visit; met with President Scheel and Chancellor Schmidt. Addressed U.S. and German military personnel at Wiesbaden Army Airfield, and spoke at the Berlin Airlift Monument. | |
June 14–18, 1979 | Austria | Vienna | State visit. Met with President Rudolf Kirchschläger and Chancellor Bruno Kreisky. Met with Soviet General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev to sign SALT II Treaty. | |
Ronald Reagan [11] | June 2–7, 1982 | France | Paris, Versailles | State Visit. Met with President François Mitterrand and Prime Minister Pierre Mauroy. Attended the 8th G7 summit. |
June 9–11, 1982 | West Germany | Bonn, West Berlin | State visit; met with Chancellor Schmidt and President Karl Carstens; addressed the Bundestag; and attended a meeting of the North Atlantic Council. | |
June 6, 1984 | France | Normandy | Attended commemorative ceremonies of the 40th anniversary of the Allied landing in Normandy. Also present were Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, King Olav V of Norway, King Baudouin I of Belgium, French President François Mitterrand, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and Jean, Grand Duke of Luxembourg. | |
April 30 – May 6, 1985 | West Germany | Bonn, Bergen-Belsen, Bitburg, Hambach Castle West Berlin | State visit; attended ceremonies commemorating 40th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. Attended 11th G7 summit. | |
May 8, 1985 | France | Strasbourg | Addressed the European Parliament. | |
November 21, 1985 | Belgium | Brussels | Attended the 7th NATO Summit Meeting. Present were the Heads of State and Government of Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Federal Republic of Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Luxembourg, Portugal, Turkey and the United Kingdom. | |
November 16–21, 1985 | Switzerland | Geneva | Attended the Summit Meeting with Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev. Met also with Swiss President Kurt Furgler. | |
June 11–12, 1987 | West Germany | West Berlin, Bonn | Delivered a speech at the commemoration of Berlin's 750th anniversary; met with Chancellor Helmut Kohl. | |
March 1–3, 1988 | Belgium | Brussels | Attended the 1988 Brussels summit. Present were the Heads of State and Government of Canada, Denmark, France, Federal Republic of Germany, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Turkey and the United Kingdom. | |
George H. W. Bush [12] | May 28–30, 1989 | Attended the May 1989 NATO summit. Present were the Heads of State and Government of Canada, Denmark, France, Federal Republic of Germany, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Turkey, and the United Kingdom. | ||
May 30–31, 1989 | West Germany | Bonn, Mainz | Met with Chancellor Kohl. | |
July 13–17, 1989 | France | Paris | Attended the 15th G7 summit. Also attended ceremonies for the Bicentennial of the French Revolution. Met with Ivorian President Félix Houphouët-Boigny. | |
July 17–18, 1989 | Netherlands | The Hague, Leiden | Met with Queen Beatrix and Prime Minister Ruud Lubbers. Delivered a public address. | |
December 3–4, 1989 | Belgium | Brussels | Attended the December 1989 Brussels summit Meeting and briefed leaders on the U.S.–Soviet Summit Meeting. | |
November 18, 1990 | Germany | Speyer, Ludwigshafen | Met with Chancellor Kohl. | |
November 18–21, 1990 | France | Paris | Attended the CSCE Summit Meeting and the signing of the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe. | |
November 23, 1990 | Switzerland | Geneva | Discussed the Persian Gulf crisis with Syrian President Hafez al-Assad. | |
July 14, 1991 | France | Rambouillet | Discussed further sanctions against Iraq with President François Mitterrand. | |
November 8–9, 1991 | Netherlands | The Hague | Attended the European Community Summit Meeting. | |
July 5–8, 1992 | Germany | Munich | Attended 18th G7 summit. Also met with Russian President Boris Yeltsin. | |
January 3–5, 1993 | France | Paris | Discussed the Bosnian crisis with President François Mitterrand. | |
Bill Clinton [13] | January 9–11, 1994 | Belgium | Brussels | Attended the 13th NATO Summit Meeting. Met with King Albert II and Prime Minister Jean-Luc Dehaene. |
January 15–16, 1994 | Switzerland | Geneva | Met with Syrian President Hafez al-Assad. | |
June 6–8, 1994 | France | Colleville, Paris | Attended the 50th anniversary of D-Day memorial ceremonies. Met with President François Mitterrand and senior French officials. Addressed the French National Assembly. | |
July 10–12, 1994 | Germany | Bonn, Oggersheim, Berlin | Met with Chancellor Kohl and German political leaders. Delivered a public address at the Brandenburg Gate and attended deactivation ceremony for the Berlin Brigade. | |
December 2, 1995 | Baumholder | Addressed U.S. military personnel and met with Chancellor Kohl. | ||
December 14, 1995 | France | Paris | Attended the signing of the Bosnian peace treaty. | |
June 27–29, 1996 | Lyon, Pérouges, Paris | Attended the 22nd G7 summit. Met with Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin and UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali. | ||
May 26–27, 1997 | Paris | Attended the NATO Summit Meeting and the signing of the NATO-Russia Founding Act. | ||
May 27–28, 1997 | Netherlands | The Hague, Rotterdam | Attended the U.S.–EU Summit Meeting. Attended the 50th anniversary of the Marshall Plan. | |
May 12–14, 1998 | Germany | Berlin, Potsdam, Frankfurt, Eisenach | Met with Chancellor Kohl; commemorated 50th anniversary of the Berlin Airlift. | |
May 18, 1998 | Switzerland | Geneva | Attended the World Trade Organization meeting commemorating the 50th anniversary of GATT. | |
May 4, 1999 | Belgium | Brussels | Discussed the Kosovo War with NATO officials. | |
May 4–6, 1999 | Germany | Frankfurt, Ramstein Air Base, Spangdahlem Air Base, Bonn, Ingelheim | Addressed U.S. military personnel; met with Chancellor Gerhard Schröder; met with Kosovo War refugees. | |
June 16, 1999 | Switzerland | Geneva | Addressed International Labour Organization Conference. Met with President Ruth Dreifuss. | |
June 16–17, 1999 | France | Paris | Discussed peacekeeping in Kosovo with President Jacques Chirac and Prime Minister Lionel Jospin. | |
June 17–21, 1999 | Germany | Cologne, Bonn | Attended 25th G8 summit. | |
January 29, 2000 | Switzerland | Davos | Addressed the World Economic Forum. | |
March 25, 2000 | Geneva | Met with Syrian President Hafez al-Assad. | ||
June 1–3, 2000 | Germany | Berlin, Aachen | Met with President Johannes Rau and Chancellor Schröder; received Charlemagne Prize, and attended a Third Way Conference. | |
George W. Bush [14] | June 13–14, 2001 | Belgium | Brussels | Attended the special Meeting of the North Atlantic Council. Met with King Albert II and Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt. |
May 22–23, 2002 | Germany | Berlin | Met with Chancellor Schröder and addressed the Bundestag. | |
May 26–27, 2002 | France | Paris, Sainte-Mère-Église, Colleville | Met with President Jacques Chirac. Delivered a Memorial Day address in Normandy. | |
June 1–2, 2003 | Evian-les-Bains | Attended the 29th G8 summit. Met with Chinese President Hu Jintao. | ||
June 5–6, 2004 | Paris, Colleville, Caen, Arromanches | Met with President Jacques Chirac. Attended the 60th anniversary of D-Day ceremonies. | ||
February 20–23, 2005 | Belgium | Brussels | Attended the NATO and EU Summit Meetings. | |
February 23, 2005 | Germany | Mainz, Wiesbaden | Met with Chancellor Schröder and visited U.S. military personnel. | |
May 7–8, 2005 | Netherlands | Maastricht, Valkenburg, Margraten | Met with Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende. Delivered address at the Netherlands American Cemetery, marking the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. [15] | |
June 20–21, 2006 | Austria | Vienna | Attended the U.S.–EU summit meeting. | |
July 12–14, 2006 | Germany | Stralsund, Trinwillershagen | Met with Chancellor Angela Merkel. | |
June 5–8, 2007 | Heiligendamm | Attended the 33rd G8 summit. Also met with Chinese President Hu Jintao. | ||
June 10–11, 2008 | Meseberg | Met with Chancellor Angela Merkel. | ||
June 13–15, 2008 | France | Paris | Met with President Nicolas Sarkozy. Addressed the OECD. Attended wreath-laying ceremonies at the Suresnes American Cemetery and Memorial and Mémorial de la France combattante. | |
Barack Obama [16] | April 3–4, 2009 | Germany | Baden-Baden, Kehl | Attended the NATO Summit Meeting. |
France | Strasbourg | |||
June 4–5, 2009 | Germany | Dresden, Weimar, Landstuhl | Met with Chancellor Angela Merkel, visited the Buchenwald concentration camp and visited wounded U.S. military personnel | |
June 5–7, 2009 | France | Paris, Caen, Normandy | Met with President Nicolas Sarkozy and dedicated the new visitor center at the U.S. Military Cemetery in Normandy. | |
May 26–27, 2011 | Deauville, Paris | Attended the 37th G8 summit. | ||
November 3–4, 2011 | Cannes | Attended the G20 summit. | ||
June 18–19, 2013 | Germany | Berlin | Met with President Joachim Gauck and Chancellor Angela Merkel.[ citation needed ] | |
March 24–25, 2014 | Netherlands | Amsterdam, The Hague | Attended the Nuclear Security Summit. Also attended the G7 summit on the crisis in Ukraine and the annexation of the Crimea. Met with Prime Minister Mark Rutte. Also met with King Willem-Alexander at the Royal Palace of Amsterdam. | |
March 26–27, 2014 | Belgium | Waregem, Brussels | EU Summit meeting with the President of the European Council and the President of the European Commission. While in Belgium, the President also held bilateral events with Belgian Federal Government officials and with the NATO Secretary General. [17] Laid wreath and toured the Flanders Field American Cemetery and Memorial with King Philippe and Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo. Delivered a speech at the Centre for Fine Arts (BOZAR). [18] | |
June 4–5, 2014 | Brussels | Met with King Philippe and Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo. Attended meetings of the G-7 leaders. [19] | ||
June 5–6, 2014 | France | Paris, Omaha Beach, Benouville, Ouistreham | Met with President François Hollande. Attended the 70th anniversary of D-Day memorial ceremonies. | |
June 7–8, 2015 | Germany | Schloss Elmau | Attended the 41st G7 summit. [20] He also met with Chancellor Merkel for a traditional Frühschoppen breakfast with the village locals in Krün. [21] | |
November 29 – December 1, 2015 | France | Paris | Attended the United Nations Climate Change Conference. Joined President François Hollande and Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo in paying respects to the victims of the Paris attacks by laying flowers in front of the Bataclan. [22] | |
April 24–25, 2016 | Germany | Hanover | Met with Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President François Hollande, Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, and British Prime Minister David Cameron. Toured Hannover Messe. | |
November 16–18, 2016 | Berlin | Met with Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President François Hollande, Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, and British Prime Minister Theresa May. | ||
Donald Trump | May 24–25, 2017 | Belgium | Brussels | Attended the NATO summit. |
July 6–8, 2017 | Germany | Hamburg | Attended the G-20 summit. | |
July 13–14, 2017 | France | Paris | Met with President Emmanuel Macron. Participated in the Bastille Day celebrations marking the 100th anniversary of the Entry of the United States into World War I. | |
January 25–26, 2018 | Switzerland | Davos | Attended the World Economic Forum. | |
July 10–12, 2018 | Belgium | Brussels | Attended the NATO summit. | |
November 9–11, 2018 | France | Paris | Met with President Emmanuel Macron. Participated in the Armistice Day celebrations marking the 100th anniversary of the Armistice with Germany that brought major hostilities of World War I to an end. Visited the Suresnes American Cemetery and Memorial. | |
December 26, 2018 | Germany | Ramstein Air Base | Visited service members at Ramstein Air Base in Germany on his way back from Iraq. | |
June 6, 2019 | France | Colleville, Caen | Met with President Emmanuel Macron. Attended the 75th anniversary of D-Day memorial ceremonies. Visited the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial. | |
August 24–26, 2019 | Biarritz | Attended the 45th G7 summit. | ||
January 21–22, 2020 | Switzerland | Davos | Attended the World Economic Forum. | |
Joe Biden | June 13–15, 2021 | Belgium | Brussels | Attended the NATO summit. |
June 15–16, 2021 | Switzerland | Geneva | Attended a summit meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Also met with Swiss President Guy Parmelin. | |
March 23–24, 2022 | Belgium | Brussels | Attended the 2022 Brussels extraordinary NATO summit. | |
June 25–28, 2022 | Germany | Schloss Elmau | Attended the 48th G7 summit. | |
June 5–9, 2024 | France | Paris, Omaha Beach | State visit. Met with President Emmanuel Macron. Attended the 80th anniversary of D-Day memorial ceremonies. Visited the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial, Omaha Beach and the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery. | |
October 17–18, 2024 | Germany | Berlin | Met with Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emmanuel Maron, and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. |
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.
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. More recently, Barack Obama, the first U.S. president with African American ancestry, visited his father's native Kenya in 2015. Of the 46 African nations identified as sub-Saharan by the United Nations, 14 have been visited by an American president.
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.
There have been twenty-four United States presidential visits to Southeast Asia by ten U.S. presidents. Dwight D. Eisenhower became the first incumbent president to visit a Southeast Asian country when he visited the Philippines in 1960. Since then, every president, except John F. Kennedy and Jimmy Carter, has travelled to the region. The Philippines, a former U.S. colony (1902–1946) and a close U.S. ally, is the most visited Southeast Asian country with ten visits, followed by Indonesia with nine, and Vietnam with eight. Of the eleven sovereign states in the region, all but East Timor have been visited by a sitting 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.
Ten United States presidents have made presidential visits to East Asia. The first presidential trip to a country in East Asia was made by Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1952. Since then, all presidents, except John F. Kennedy, have traveled to one or more nations in the region while in office.
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.
Seven United States presidents have made presidential visits to Northern Europe. Richard Nixon became the first incumbent president to visit a Northern European country when he went to Iceland in 1973. The first trips were an offshoot of the general easing of the geo-political tensions between the U.S. and the Soviet Union during the Cold War. To date, every nation in the region has been visited at least twice: Finland (7), Denmark (4), Latvia (3), Estonia (2), Iceland (2), Norway (2), Sweden (2), and Lithuania (2).