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United States presidential visits to the United Kingdom and Ireland

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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.

An orthographic projection map featuring the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland (highlighted in dark green)

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

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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.
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President John F. Kennedy and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy meet with Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip at Buckingham Palace, London, England (1961)
 
President Richard Nixon and First Lady Pat Nixon meet with Prime Minister Edward Heath and Queen Elizabeth II at Chequers (1970)
 
President Ronald Reagan and Queen Elizabeth II at Windsor Castle, Windsor, England (1982)
 
President George H. W. Bush and First Lady Barbara Bush with Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip at Buckingham Palace, London, England (1989)
 
President Bill Clinton and Prince Philip inspect the Queen's Guard at Buckingham Palace, London, England (1995)
 
President Bill Clinton, First Lady Hillary Clinton, and Chelsea Clinton meet with Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace, London, England (2000)
 
President George W. Bush with Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace, London, England (2001)
 
President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama receive Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Prince Philip at Winfield House, London, England (2011)
 
President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama meet with Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Prince Philip at Windsor Castle, Windsor, England (2016)
 
President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump meet with Queen Elizabeth II at Windsor Castle, Windsor, England (2018)
 
President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden meet with Queen Elizabeth II at Windsor Castle, Windsor, England (2021)
 
President Joe Biden meets with King Charles III at Windsor Castle, Windsor, England (2023)

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Travels of President Woodrow Wilson". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
  2. ^ "Travels of President Harry S. Truman". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
  3. ^ a b "Travels of President Dwight D. Eisenhower". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
  4. ^ a b "Travels of President John F. Kennedy". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
  5. ^ "1963: Warm welcome for JFK in Ireland". BBC News. June 27, 1963. Retrieved February 23, 2012.
  6. ^ a b c d "Travels of President Richard M. Nixon". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
  7. ^ "Travels of President Jimmy Carter". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
  8. ^ a b c d "Travels of President Ronald Reagan". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
  9. ^ "Inward State Visits Since 1952" (PDF). The Royal Household (UK). Retrieved 14 February 2017.
  10. ^ a b c "Travels of President George H. W. Bush". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
  11. ^ 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.
  12. ^ a b c d e f g "Travels of President George W. Bush". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
  13. ^ a b c d "Travels of President Barack Obama". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
  14. ^ "London Summit". Archived from the original on 2009-04-23. Retrieved 2009-04-23.
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