United States presidential visits to the United Kingdom

The United Kingdom is the most common international destination for a sitting United States president. This is partly because of the importance of London as a global city, the importance of the UK as a strategic ally of the US and the relative ease of being able to communicate in English, thereby avoiding language problems.

Table of Trips

Dates	President	Location	Reason
December 26–28, 1918	Woodrow Wilson	London, Carlisle, Manchester	Met with Prime Minister David Lloyd George and King George V.
August 2, 1945	Harry S. Truman	Plymouth	Informal meeting with King George VI.
August 27–September 2, 1959	Dwight D. Eisenhower	London, Balmoral, Chequers	Informal visit; met Prime Minister Harold Macmillan and Queen Elizabeth II.
September 4–7, 1959		Culzean Castle	Rested before returning to the United States.
June 4–5, 1961	John F. Kennedy	London	Private visit; met Prime Minister Harold Macmillan and Queen Elizabeth II.
June 29–30, 1963		Birch Grove, Sussex	Informal visit with Prime Minister Harold Macmillan at his home.
February 24–26, 1969	Richard Nixon	London	Informal visit; held conversations with Prime Minister Harold Wilson. Received by Queen Elizabeth II.
August 3, 1969		RAF Mildenhall	Informal meeting with Prime Minister Harold Wilson.
October 3, 1970		Chequers	Met informally with Queen Elizabeth II and Prime Minister Edward Heath.
May 5–11, 1977	Jimmy Carter	London, Newcastle	Attended Economic Summit Meeting May 7-8 of the Heads of State and Government of Canada, France, the Federal Republic of Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United Kingdom. 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, May 10.
June 7–9, 1982	Ronald Reagan	London, Windsor Castle	State visit; met with Queen Elizabeth II and Margaret Thatcher (Prime Minister). Addressed Parliament.
June 4–10, 1984		London	Met with Queen Elizabeth II and Margaret Thatcher (Prime Minister). Attended Economic Summit Meeting June 7-9 of the Heads of State and Government of Canada, France, the Federal Republic of Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United Kingdom.
June 2–3, 1988		London	Met with Queen Elizabeth II, Margaret Thatcher (Prime Minister), and Noboru Takeshita, Prime Minister of Japan.
May 31–June 2, 1989	George H. W. Bush	London	Met with Queen Elizabeth II and Margaret Thatcher (Prime Minister).
July 5–6, 1990		London	Attended NATO Summit meeting.
July 14–18, 1991		London	Attended Economic Summit Meeting with the Heads of State and Government of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United Kingdom. Also met with Soviet.
June 4–5, 1994	Bill Clinton	Cambridge, London, Portsmouth	Visited U.S. Military Cemetery. Met with John Major (Prime Minister). 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 D-Day commemorative ceremonies.
June 8, 1994		Oxford	Received honorary degree from Oxford University.
November 28–December 1, 1995		London, Belfast, Derry	Met with Queen Elizabeth II and John Major (Prime Minister); addressed Parliament; and delivered several public addresses in Northern Ireland.
May 28–29, 1997		London	Met with Tony Blair (Prime Minister) and attended a Cabinet meeting.
May 14–18, 1998		Birmingham, Weston-under-Lizard, London	Attended G8 Economic Summit and U.S.-EU Summit.
September 3, 1998		Belfast, Armagh, Omagh	Met with Tony Blair (Prime Minister) and Northern Irish political leaders; addressed the Northern Ireland Assembly.
December 12–14, 2000		Belfast, London, Coventry	Met with Tony Blair (Prime Minister) and Northern Irish political leaders in Belfast; met with Queen Elizabeth II; made a speech at the University of Warwick.
July 18–20, 2001	George W. Bush	London, Chequers, Halton, Brize Norton	Met with Tony Blair (Prime Minister) and Queen Elizabeth II.
April 7–8, 2003		Belfast, Hillsborough (Northern Ireland)	Met with Tony Blair (Prime Minister) to discuss the reconstruction of Iraq. Also met with the Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern and Northern Irish political leaders.
November 18–21, 2003		London, Sedgefield	First full state visit of a U.S. president to the United Kingdom. Met with Queen Elizabeth and stayed at Buckingham Palace, where a formal state reception was held. In lieu of formal address to parliament, gave an address at Whitehall Palace. Later accompanied Prime Minister Blair on a tour of the latter's constituency in Sedgefield.
Jul 6–8, 2005		Gleneagles (Scotland)	31st G8 Summit
June 15–16,2008		London, Belfast	Met with Queen Elizabeth II at Windsor Castle. Met with Gordon Brown (Prime Minister) and Tony Blair (Quartet Representative). In Belfast, met with the Northern Ireland First Minister Peter Robinson and the Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness.
April 1–2, 2009	Barack Obama	London	G20 Economic Summit.
May 23-26, 2011		London	State visit to the United Kingdom. Met with Queen Elizabeth II and stayed at Buckingham Palace where a ceremonial welcome and state dinner was given. Laid a wreath at the Tomb of The Unknown Warrior in Westminster Abbey. Addressed a joint session of the British Parliament in Westminster Hall. Met with British Prime Minister David Cameron at 10 Downing Street for meetings.

See also

• International travel by the United States president
• United States presidential visits to Sub-Saharan Africa
• United States presidential visits to Canada
• United States presidential visits to Mexico