United States presidential visits to the Middle East

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Ten United States presidents have made presidential visits to the Middle East. The first trips by an incumbent president to countries in (or partly within) the Middle East were those of 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.

Contents

Table of visits

PresidentDatesCountriesLocationsKey details
Franklin D. Roosevelt [1] November 22–26, 1943Flag of Egypt (1922-1958).svg  Egypt Cairo Attended First Cairo Conference with British Prime Minister Churchill and Chinese leader Chiang Kai-shek.
November 27 – December 2, 1943State Flag of Iran (1925).svg  Iran Tehran Attended Tehran Conference with Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill.
December 2–7, 1943Flag of Egypt (1922-1958).svg  Egypt CairoAttended Second Cairo Conference with British Prime Minister Churchill and Turkish President İsmet İnönü.
February 13–15, 1945 Great Bitter Lake, Suez Canal, Alexandria Met with King Farouk, Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie, Saudi Arabian King Ibn Saud, and British Prime Minister Churchill.
Dwight D. Eisenhower [2] December 6–7, 1959Flag of Turkey.svg  Turkey Ankara Informal Visit. Met with President Celâl Bayar.
December 14, 1959State Flag of Iran (1925).svg  Iran TehranMet with Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. Addressed Parliament.
Richard Nixon [3] May 30–31, 1972State Flag of Iran (1964).svg  Iran TehranOfficial Visit. Met with Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.
June 12–14, 1974Flag of Egypt.svg  Egypt Cairo, AlexandriaMet with President Anwar Sadat.
June 14–15, 1974Flag of Saudi Arabia.svg  Saudi Arabia Jeddah Met with King Faisal.
June 15–16, 1974Flag of Syria.svg  Syria Damascus Met with President Hafez al-Assad.
June 16–17, 1974Flag of Israel.svg  Israel Tel Aviv, Jerusalem Met with President Ephraim Katzir and Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.
June 17–18, 1974Flag of Jordan.svg  Jordan Amman State Visit. Met with King Hussein.
Jimmy Carter [4] December 31, 1977 –
January 1, 1978		State Flag of Iran (1964).svg  Iran TehranOfficial Visit. Met with Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and King Hussein of Jordan.
January 3–4, 1978Flag of Saudi Arabia.svg  Saudi Arabia Riyadh Met with King Khalid and Crown Prince Fahd.
January 4, 1978Flag of Egypt.svg  Egypt Aswan Met with President Sadat and German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt.
March 7–9, 1979Cairo, Alexandria, GizaState visit; met with President Sadat and addressed the People's Assembly.
March 10–13, 1979Flag of Israel.svg  Israel Tel Aviv, JerusalemState Visit. Met with President Yitzhak Navon and Prime Minister Menachem Begin. Addressed the Knesset.
March 13, 1979Flag of Egypt.svg  Egypt CairoMet with President Sadat.
George H. W. Bush [5] November 21–22, 1990Flag of Saudi Arabia.svg  Saudi Arabia Jeddah, Dhahran Met with King Fahd and the Amir of Kuwait. Addressed U.S. and British military personnel in eastern Saudi Arabia.
November 22–23, 1990Flag of Egypt.svg  Egypt CairoDiscussed the Persian Gulf crisis with President Hosni Mubarak.
July 20–22, 1991Flag of Turkey.svg  Turkey Ankara, Istanbul Met with President Turgut Ozal.
December 31, 1992Flag of Saudi Arabia.svg  Saudi Arabia RiyadhMet with King Fahd.
Bill Clinton [6] October 25–26, 1994Flag of Egypt.svg  Egypt CairoMet with President Hosni Mubarak and PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat.
October 26–27, 1994Flag of Jordan.svg  Jordan Aqaba, Wadi Arava, AmmanAttended the signing of the Israel-Jordan peace agreement. Addressed the Jordanian Parliament.
October 27, 1994Flag of Syria.svg  Syria DamascusMet with President Hafez al-Assad.
October 27–28, 1994Flag of Israel.svg  Israel JerusalemMet with senior Israeli officials. Addressed the Knesset.
October 28, 1994Flag of Kuwait.svg  Kuwait Kuwait City Met with Emir Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah. Addressed U.S. military personnel.
October 28, 1994Flag of Saudi Arabia.svg  Saudi Arabia King Khalid Military City Met with King Fahd.
November 5–6, 1995Flag of Israel.svg  Israel JerusalemAttended the funeral of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.
March 13, 1996Flag of Egypt.svg  Egypt Sharm el-Sheikh Attended the Summit of the Peacemakers.
March 13–14, 1996Flag of Israel.svg  Israel Jerusalem, Tel AvivDiscussed cooperation against terrorism with senior Israeli officials.
December 12–15, 1998Jerusalem, Masada Met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and senior Israeli officials.
December 14–15, 1998Flag of Palestine.svg  Palestinian National Authority Gaza, Bethlehem, Erez Addressed Palestine National Council. Attended a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Chairman Yasser Arafat.
February 8, 1999Flag of Jordan.svg  Jordan AmmanAttended the funeral of King Hussein.
November 15–19, 1999Flag of Turkey.svg  Turkey Ankara, İzmit, Ephesus, IstanbulState Visit. Attended Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Summit meeting.
March 25, 2000Flag of Oman.svg  Oman Muscat Met with Sultan Qaboos bin Said.
August 29, 2000Flag of Egypt.svg  Egypt CairoBriefed President Hosni Mubarak on the Middle East Peace Process.
October 16–17, 2000Sharm el-SheikhAttended the Israeli-Palestinian Summit Meeting.
George W. Bush [7] June 2–3, 2003Sharm el-SheikhAttended "Red Sea Summit" with the leaders of Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia, and with Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas.
June 4, 2003Flag of Jordan.svg  Jordan AqabaAttended meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas. Met with King Abdullah II.
June 4–5, 2003Flag of Qatar.svg  Qatar Doha Met with Emir Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani. Visited U.S. Central Command headquarters and addressed U.S. military personnel.
November 27, 2003Flag of Iraq (1991-2004).svg  Iraq Baghdad Met with members of the Coalition Provisional Authority and the Iraqi Governing Council. Addressed U.S. military personnel.
June 26–29, 2004Flag of Turkey.svg  Turkey Ankara, IstanbulMet with President Ahmet Necdet Sezer and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Attended the NATO Summit meeting.
May 9–10, 2005Flag of Georgia.svg  Georgia Tbilisi Met with President Mikheil Saakashvili.
June 13, 2006Flag of Iraq (2004-2008).svg  Iraq BaghdadMet with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Addressed U.S. military personnel.
November 29–30, 2006Flag of Jordan.svg  Jordan AmmanMet with King Abdullah II and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
September 3, 2007Flag of Iraq (2004-2008).svg  Iraq Al Asad Airbase Met with Gen. David Petraeus, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, senior U.S. officials, Iraqi political leaders. Addressed U.S military personnel.
January 9–11, 2008Flag of Israel.svg  Israel Tel Aviv, JerusalemMet with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and President Shimon Peres. Visited Yad Vashem.
January 10, 2008Flag of Palestine.svg  Palestinian National Authority Ramallah, BethlehemMet with President Mahmoud Abbas. Visited the Church of the Nativity.
January 11–12, 2008Flag of Kuwait.svg  Kuwait Kuwait City, Camp Arifjan Attended Roundtable on Democracy and Development. Met with Gen. David Petraeus and United States Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker. Addressed U.S. military personnel.
January 12–13, 2008Flag of Bahrain.svg  Bahrain Manama Met with King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa. Addressed U.S. military personnel.
January 13–14, 2008Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg  United Arab Emirates Abu Dhabi, Dubai Met with President Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.
January 14–16, 2008Flag of Saudi Arabia.svg  Saudi Arabia Riyadh, Al-Janadriyah Met with King Abdullah.
January 16, 2008Flag of Egypt.svg  Egypt Sharm el-SheikhMet with President Hosni Mubarak.
May 14–16, 2008Flag of Israel.svg  Israel Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, MasadaMet with President Shimon Peres and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. Addressed the Knesset. Attended Israel's 60th anniversary. Visited the Masada fortification site.
May 16–17, 2008Flag of Saudi Arabia.svg  Saudi Arabia Riyadh, al-JanadriyahMet with King Abdullah.
May 17–18, 2008Flag of Egypt.svg  Egypt Sharm el-SheikhMet with President Hosni Mubarak, King Abdullah II of Jordan, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Pakistani Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani. Addressed the World Economic Forum.
December 14, 2008Flag of Iraq.svg  Iraq BaghdadMet with President Jalal Talabani and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Signed Strategic Framework and Security Agreements. Visited U.S. military personnel.
Barack Obama [8] April 5–7, 2009Flag of Turkey.svg  Turkey Ankara, IstanbulMet with President Abdullah Gül and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Delivered a speech to the Turkish Parliament. Laid a wreath at Anitkabir Mausoleum, [9] Also met with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople of the Eastern Orthodox Church, [10] attended the Alliance of Civilizations forum, [11] and participated in a town hall meeting with students at the Tophane Cultural Center. [12] [13]
April 7–8, 2009Flag of Iraq.svg  Iraq BaghdadMet with President Jalal Talabani and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Visited with U.S. troops.
June 3–4, 2009Flag of Saudi Arabia.svg  Saudi Arabia RiyadhMet with King Abdullah.
June 4, 2009Flag of Egypt.svg  Egypt CairoMet with President Hosni Mubarak. Toured the Giza Pyramids. Delivered a speech at Cairo University.
March 20–22, 2013Flag of Israel.svg  Israel Tel Aviv, JerusalemMet with President Shimon Peres and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Visited the Shrine of the Book and Yad Vashem, and spoke to students at the International Convention Center.
March 21–22, 2013Flag of Palestine.svg Palestinian National Authority Ramallah, Al-Bireh, BethlehemMet with President Mahmoud Abbas. Visited the Church of the Nativity.
March 22–23, 2013Flag of Jordan.svg  Jordan Amman, Petra Met with King Abdullah II.
March 28, 2014Flag of Saudi Arabia.svg  Saudi Arabia RiyadhMet with King Abdullah. [14]
January 27, 2015Met with the newly appointed King Salman. Also paid respects to the late King Abdullah. [15] [16]
November 14–17, 2015Flag of Turkey.svg  Turkey Antalya Attended the G-20 Summit Meeting. [17] also met with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, King Salman of Saudi Arabia and Russian President Vladimir Putin. [18] [19] [20] [21]
April 20–21, 2016Flag of Saudi Arabia.svg  Saudi Arabia RiyadhOfficial visit. Met with King Salman. Attended a summit meeting with the Gulf Cooperation Council. [22]
September 30, 2016Flag of Israel.svg  Israel JerusalemAttended the state funeral of former President Shimon Peres.
Donald Trump May 20–22, 2017Flag of Saudi Arabia.svg  Saudi Arabia RiyadhMet with King Salman. Participated in the 2017 Riyadh Summit
May 22–23, 2017Flag of Israel.svg  Israel JerusalemMet with President Reuven Rivlin and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
May 23, 2017Flag of Palestine.svg Palestinian National Authority BethlehemMet with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
December 26, 2018Flag of Iraq.svg  Iraq Al Asad Air Base Visited with U.S military personnel serving in Western Iraq.
Joe Biden July 13–15, 2022Flag of Israel.svg  Israel JerusalemMet with President Isaac Herzog and Prime Minister Yair Lapid.
July 15, 2022Flag of Palestine.svg Palestinian National Authority BethlehemMet with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
July 15–16, 2022Flag of Saudi Arabia.svg  Saudi Arabia Jeddah, RiyadhMet with King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Participated in the GCC+3 Summit.

Visits by former presidents

  1. Ulysses S. Grant visited Alexandria, Egypt, met with Khedive Isma'il Pasha, sailed up the Nile to tour the Valley of the Kings, and travelled by train down the length of the Suez Canal in 1878, during a post-presidency world tour. During the same tour, he visited Jerusalem. [23] [24]
  2. Richard Nixon (without official State Department credentials) attended the funeral of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, former Shah of Iran, in Cairo, Egypt, March 8, 1980. [25]
  3. Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter were among the dignitaries representing the United States at the funeral of Egyptian President Sadat in Cairo, October 10, 1981. [26]
  4. Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, and George H. W. Bush attended the state funeral of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman, February 8, 1999.
  5. Bill Clinton attended the state funeral of former Israeli President Shimon Peres in Jerusalem, September 30, 2016.

See also

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United States presidential visits to Central America

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United States presidential visits to North Africa

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United States presidential visits to South America

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."

United States presidential visits to the Caribbean

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.

United States presidential visits to Southeast Asia

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 and Vietnam with eight, and Thailand with seven. Of the eleven sovereign states in the region, all but East Timor have been visited by a sitting American president.

United States presidential visits to the United Kingdom and Ireland

Twelve United States presidents have made presidential visits to the United Kingdom and 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 Ireland was made in June 1963 by John F. Kennedy. To date, 38 visits have been made to the United Kingdom and eleven to Ireland.

To date, eight visits have been made to Afghanistan and India, five have been made to Pakistan, to Bangladesh. No incumbent president has yet visited Bhutan, the Maldives, Nepal, or Sri Lanka.

United States presidential visits to East Asia

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.

United States presidential visits to Southern Europe

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.

United States presidential visits to Western Europe

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 19 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, 40 visits have been made to France, 31 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.

United States presidential visits to Northern Europe

Seven United States presidents have made presidential visits to Northern Europe. Richard Nixon became the first incumbent president to visit a Northern European country 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 once: Finland (6), Denmark (4), Latvia (3), Estonia (2), Iceland (2), Norway (2), Sweden (2), and Lithuania (1).

References

  1. ↑ Travels of President Franklin D. Roosevelt U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian Archived 2011-11-09 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ↑ Travels of President Dwight D. Eisenhower U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian Archived 2011-12-05 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ↑ "Travels of President Richard M. Nixon". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
  4. ↑ "Travels of President Jimmy Carter". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
  5. ↑ "Travels of President George H. W. Bush". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
  6. ↑ "Travels of President William J. Clinton". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
  7. ↑ "Travels of President George W. Bush". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
  8. ↑ "Travels of President Barack Obama". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
  9. ↑ "(DIP) U.S. PRESIDENT OBAMA VISITS ATATURK'S MAUSOLEUM". The Free Library. April 6, 2009. Retrieved December 27, 2012.
  10. ↑ A Meeting with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew | The White House
  11. ↑ "Obama reaches out to Muslim world". BBC. April 6, 2009. Retrieved April 3, 2012.
  12. ↑ Sweet, Lynn (April 7, 2009). "President Obama official schedule and guidance, April 7, 2009. In Istanbul". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on May 12, 2012. Retrieved April 3, 2012.
  13. ↑ "President Obama Makes First Overseas Trip". The Washington Post. April 8, 2009. Archived from the original on November 25, 2010. Retrieved April 3, 2012.
  14. ↑ "Statement by the Press Secretary on the President’s Travel to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in March 2014." whitehouse.gov. February 3, 2014.
  15. ↑ Smith-Spark, Laura (January 24, 2015). "President Barack Obama to meet, pay respects to new Saudi King". CNN . Retrieved January 24, 2015.
  16. ↑ "Obama, world leaders head to Saudi Arabia to offer condolences". Reuters . Riyadh. January 24, 2015. Retrieved January 24, 2015.
  17. ↑ Boyer, Dave (October 26, 2015). "Obama to visit Turkey, Philippines, Malaysia in November". The Washington Times . Retrieved October 27, 2015.
  18. ↑ "Obama to meet with leaders of Turkey, Canada: White House". Reuters . November 12, 2015. Retrieved November 14, 2015.
  19. ↑ "Obama to meet Saudi King Salman at G20-summit in Turkey: White House official". The Express Tribune . Reuters. November 15, 2015. Retrieved November 15, 2015.
  20. ↑ Sweet, Lynn (November 14, 2015). "Obama guidance, press schedule Nov. 14, 15, 2015. To Turkey for G20". Chicago Sun-Times . Archived from the original on November 14, 2015. Retrieved November 14, 2015.
  21. ↑ Hope, Christopher (November 16, 2015). "David Cameron and Barack Obama use G20 summit to urge Vladimir Putin to back them over Isil". The Daily Telegraph . Retrieved November 16, 2015.
  22. ↑ Al-Hamid, Faheem (April 20, 2016). "Obama arriving today". Saudi Gazette . Retrieved April 20, 2016.
  23. ↑ Hindley, Meredith (May–June 2014). "The Odyssey of Ulysses S. Grant". Humanities. 35 (3).
  24. ↑ McFeely, William S. (1981). Grant: A Biography. Norton. p. 472. ISBN   0-393-01372-3.
  25. ↑ Ambrose, Stephen E. (1991). Nixon: Ruin and Recovery 1973–1990 . New York: Simon & Schuster. p.  533. ISBN   978-0-671-69188-2.
  26. ↑ "Officials From Around the World Attending Sadat's Funeral". The New York Times . APAP. October 10, 1981.
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