Inside Camp David, where US presidents take a break or engage in world diplomacy

Today (18 August) all eyes will turn towards Camp David, America’s presidential retreat, as President Joe Biden will host Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida and South Korea president Yoon Suk Yeol. The trilateral summit, a first for the three countries, will look to deepen the countries’ defence, technology and economic cooperation, as they grapple with rising threats from China and North Korea. Incidentally, it will also be Biden’s first time hosting foreign leaders at the compound. Robert Sutter, a former national intelligence officer for East Asia and the Pacific who is now an international affairs professor at George Washington University, told the Politico that this summit in all likelihood herald a change. “This Camp David summitry – that’s really a big deal. A new era may be coming out of this.” Unsurprisingly, the Camp David summit has upset China and North Korea. South Korea earlier reported that its neighbouring nation is preparing an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launch and other “provocations”. Beijing, meanwhile, has also expressed its feelings for the summit, with state media terming it as “endangering the Asia-Pacific region.” But why is this historic trilateral being held at Camp David and not at the White House? What’s the history of this secluded retreat and how has it served its presidents in the past? History of Camp David Camp David is formally known as the Naval Support Facility Thurmont and is the American president’s country residence. It is located in Catoctin Mountain Park in Frederick County, Maryland – a helicopter ride away from the White House in Washington, DC – and has offered every president since Franklin D Roosevelt an opportunity for solitude and tranquility, as well as an ideal place to work and host foreign leaders. It was made the official presidential retreat in 1945 by then President Harry S Truman. Interestingly, Camp David as it is known today was not always named so. Initially, Roosevelt had named the residence Shangri-La after the fictional mountain kingdom in James Hilton’s 1933 novel, Lost Horizon. It was only when President Dwight D Eisenhower took office that he renamed the property ‘Camp David,’ in 1953 after his father and grandson who had the same name. [caption id=“attachment_13011912” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] The entrance to Shangri-La, in Thurmont, the wartime retreat of President Franklin D Roosevelt. It was in 1953 that US president Dwight D Eisenhower renamed the place to what is today famously know as Camp David. File image/AP[/caption] Interestingly, the exact location of Camp David is unknown and maps are not allowed to show the camp’s exact location due to safety concerns. And for those who are thinking that Camp David is a run-of-the-mill camp site, think again. Spread over 180 acres, the retreat is more like a modern resort. There’s one grand building, the Aspen Lodge, which was originally called The Bear’s Den by FDR, and 18 cabins to accommodate guests, Secret Service, and others. There’s also a bowling alley, tennis courts, a basketball court, a skeet shooting range, riding stables, two swimming pools, and a movie theatre (the Reagans watched an impressive 344 movies at Camp David). There are also plenty of golf carts, the only vehicle the US president is allowed to drive. Susan Ford, President General Ford’s daughter, once described Camp David as a place where “you could go and have fun and be silly and not end up in the press.” [caption id=“attachment_13011932” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] US president Barack Obama has a water gun fight with his daughter Sasha on her birthday weekend at Camp David in 2011. The presidential retreat has served as a place for American leaders to relax and unwind from the high pressures of their job. Image Courtesy: Pete Souza/Obama White House Archives[/caption] In fact, President Biden is so fond of Camp David that he has already spent 96 days there, as per Mark Knoller, a former CBS News White House correspondent who keeps presidential statistics. Interestingly, the retreat has also served as the venue for a presidential wedding. In 1992, Bush’s sister, Dorothy, married her second husband, Robert Koch, at Camp David. A foreign policy tool Besides serving as a haven for presidents and their families to relax – there have been several photos taken along the years showing how American leaders have enjoyed and taken breaks here, Camp David has also served as the site of presidential diplomacy. In 1943, British prime minister Winston Churchill became the first world leader to visit the retreat on the invitation of Roosevelt. It is said that the two leaders planned the Normandy invasion from a porch on one of the cabins at Camp David. According to local lore, the duo also dropped in at a café in the nearby village of Thurmont, Maryland, for a beer and a jukebox tune. [caption id=“attachment_13012022” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] President Dwight D Eisenhower and Soviet premier Khrushchev pose for photos outside the main lodge at the presidential retreat at Camp David in 1959. File image/AP[/caption] Years later, in 1959, at the height of the Cold War, Eisenhower hosted Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev at Camp David. It was the first time a Soviet leader had visited the United States and reports said the two leaders watched American Western movies. Perhaps, the most significant diplomatic event that took place at Camp David was the signing of the Camp David Accords during the 1978 peace treaty between Egypt and Israel spearheaded by Jimmy Carter. The US president had then thought that hosting the meeting at Camp David would take some of the political pressure off the situation. Negotiations still took much longer than expected, as Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian president Anwar Sadat didn’t speak to the other at times, but in the end, the historic accords were signed. [caption id=“attachment_13012032” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Egypt’s president Anwar Sadat (left), shakes hands with Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin as US president Jimmy Carter (centre), looks on at Camp David. File image/AP[/caption] Years later, President Bill Clinton hoped to achieve his own diplomatic success when he invited Israel’s Ehud Barak and Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat to Camp David in 200 for a series of talks. However, the idyllic mountains and peaceful environment doesn’t always translate into a success. And the parties involved failed to reach an agreement. George W Bush also hosted an array of foreign leaders at the presidential retreat and spent an enormous amount of time here. In fact, Bush spent more than 400 days at Camp David —than any other president. In her memoirs, Laura Bush, the former US First Lady, recalled, “Entertaining at a place like Camp David… was far more relaxed and casual. A visit to Camp David is more like a visit to someone’s weekend place. And it cements a different friendship than simply having a fancy event amid gleaming silver and glittering chandeliers.” [caption id=“attachment_13012042” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] President Bill Clinton, accompanied by Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak (left), and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat walk on the grounds of Camp David, on 11 July 2000, during a Mideast summit. File image/AP[/caption] Many years later in 2012, President Barack Obama also used Camp David to host the leaders for the G8 Summit. Taking a break from talks, the world leaders watched the Champions’ League soccer final where the English team Chelsea defeated the German Bayern Munich. In addition to the G-8 summit, Obama hosted a group of Persian Gulf leaders in 2015. Former US president Donald Trump considered inviting the Taliban to Camp David in 2019 but ultimately scrapped those plans after the group took credit for a bombing that killed 12 people, including a US soldier. [caption id=“attachment_13012072” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain (centre L-R) , President Barack Obama, Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, Jose Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, and others watch the overtime shootout of the Chelsea vs. Bayern Munich Champions League final in the Laurel Cabin conference room during the G8 Summit at Camp David, Maryland, in 2012. File image/Reuters[/caption] As Sarah Fling, a historian at the White House Historical Association has said, “One of the interesting things about Camp David is that it provides a less formal venue for presidents and their visitors to really get to know each other on a one-to-one basis.” This may be why Biden, who puts a premium on face-to-face interactions with his foreign counterparts, may have chosen Camp David for the significantly important trilateral between Washington, Tokyo and Seoul. With inputs from agencies