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.

Map of Europe featuring the countries of Southern Europe (highlighted in dark green)

To date, 32 visits have been made to Italy, 20 Vatican City, 11 to Spain, eight to Portugal, four to Greece, three to Bosnia and Herzegovina, three to Malta, three to Slovenia, two to Croatia, two to Kosovo, one to Albania, and one to Macedonia (now known as North Macedonia). Three were also made to Yugoslavia prior to its breakup during the early 1990s. Of the present-day nations in (or partly within) the region, all but Cyprus, San Marino, Andorra, Montenegro, and Serbia have been visited by a sitting American president.

Table of visits
President Dates Country or territory Locations Key details
Woodrow Wilson[1] January 1–6, 1919  Italy Rome, Genoa, Milan, Turin Met with King Victor Emmanuel III and Prime Minister Vittorio Orlando.
January 4, 1919 Vatican Apostolic Palace Audience with Pope Benedict XV.
Franklin D. Roosevelt[2] December 8, 1943  Italy Castelvetrano Visited Allied military installations.
December 8, 1943 Malta Valletta Visited Allied military installations
February 2, 1945 Malta Floriana Attended Malta Conference with Prime Minister Winston Churchill.
Dwight D. Eisenhower[3] December 4–6, 1959  Italy Rome Informal Visit. Met with President Giovanni Gronchi.
December 6, 1959   Vatican City Apostolic Palace Audience with Pope John XXIII.
December 14–15, 1959  Greece Athens Official Visit. Met with King Paul and Prime Minister Konstantinos Karamanlis. Addressed the Greek Parliament.
December 21–22, 1959 Spain Madrid Met with Generalísimo Francisco Franco.
May 19–20, 1960 Portugal Lisbon Official Visit. Met with President Américo Tomás
John F. Kennedy[4] July 1–2, 1963  Italy Rome,
Naples		 Met with President Antonio Segni, Italian and NATO officials.
July 2, 1963   Vatican City Apostolic Palace Audience with Pope Paul VI.
Lyndon B. Johnson[5] December 23, 1967  Italy Rome Met with President Giuseppe Saragat and Prime Minister Aldo Moro.
December 23, 1967   Vatican City Apostolic Palace Audience with Pope Paul VI.
Richard Nixon[6] February 27–28, 1969  Italy Rome Met with President Giuseppe Saragat and Prime Minister Mariano Rumor and other officials.
March 2, 1969   Vatican City Apostolic Palace Audience with Pope Paul VI.
September 27–30, 1970  Italy Rome,
Naples		 Official Visit. Met with President Giuseppe Saragat. Visited NATO Southern Command.
September 28, 1970   Vatican City Apostolic Palace Audience with Pope Paul VI.
September 30 – October 2, 1970  Yugoslavia Belgrade,
Zagreb		 State Visit. Met with President Josip Broz Tito.
October 2–3, 1970 Spain Madrid State Visit. Met with Generalissimo Francisco Franco.
December 13–14, 1971 Portugal Terceira Island Discussed international monetary problems with French President Georges Pompidou and Portuguese Prime Minister Marcelo Caetano.
June 18–19, 1974  Portugal Lajes Field Met with President António de Spínola.
Gerald Ford[7] May 31 – June 1, 1975 Spain Madrid Met with Generalissimo Francisco Franco. Received keys to city from Mayor of Madrid, Miguel Angel García-Lomas Mata.
June 3, 1975  Italy Rome Met with President Giovanni Leone and Prime Minister Aldo Moro.
June 3, 1975   Vatican City Apostolic Palace Audience with Pope Paul VI.
August 3–4, 1975  Yugoslavia Belgrade Official Visit. Met with President Josip Broz Tito and Prime Minister Džemal Bijedić.
Jimmy Carter[8] June 19–24, 1980  Italy Rome,
Venice		 Attended the 6th G7 summit. State Visit. Met with President Sandro Pertini.
June 21, 1980   Vatican City Apostolic Palace Audience with Pope John Paul II.
June 24–25, 1980  Yugoslavia Belgrade Official Visit. Met with President Cvijetin Mijatović.
June 25–26, 1980  Spain Madrid Official Visit. Met with King Juan Carlos I and Prime Minister Adolfo Suárez.
June 26–30, 1980  Portugal Lisbon Official Visit. Met with President António Ramalho Eanes and Prime Minister Francisco de Sá Carneiro.
Ronald Reagan[9] June 7, 1982  Italy Rome State Visit. Met with President Sandro Pertini and Premier Giovanni Spadolini.
June 7, 1982   Vatican City Apostolic Palace Audience with Pope John Paul II.
May 6–8, 1985  Spain Madrid State Visit. Met with King Juan Carlos I and Prime Minister Felipe González.
May 8–10, 1985  Portugal Lisbon State Visit. Met with President António Ramalho Eanes and Prime Minister Mário Soares. Addressed the National Assembly.
June 3–11, 1987  Italy Venice,
Rome		 Attended the 13th G7 summit. Met with President Francesco Cossiga and Prime Minister Amintore Fanfani.
June 6, 1987   Vatican City Apostolic Palace Audience with Pope John Paul II.
George H. W. Bush[10] May 26–28, 1989  Italy Rome,
Nettuno		 Met with President Francesco Cossiga and Prime Minister Ciriaco De Mita.
May 27, 1989   Vatican City Apostolic Palice Audience with Pope John Paul II.
December 1–3, 1989  Malta Valletta,
Marsaxlokk		 Attended the Summit Meeting with Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev. Also met with Maltese Prime Minister Eddie Fenech Adami.
July 18–20, 1991  Greece Athens,
Souda Bay		 Met with Prime Minister Konstantinos Mitsotakis. Addressed U.S. and Greek military personnel.
October 29–30, 1991  Spain Madrid Met with Prime Minister Felipe Gonzalez Marquez and Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev. Attended the opening session of the Middle East Peace Conference.
November 6–8, 1991  Italy Rome Attended the NATO Summit Meeting.
November 8, 1991   Vatican City Apostolic Palace Audience with Pope John Paul II.
Bill Clinton[11] June 2–4, 1994  Italy Rome,
Nettuno		 Met with Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and President Oscar Luigi Scalfaro. Visited U.S. Military Cemetery.
June 2, 1994   Vatican City apostolic Palace Audience with Pope John Paul II.
July 7–10, 1994  Italy Naples Attended the 20th G7 summit. Met with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, Japanese Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama, Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien and Russian President Boris Yeltsin.
December 2–3, 1995  Spain Madrid Attended the European Union Summit Meeting.
January 13, 1996  Bosnia and Herzegovina Tuzla Met with President Alija Izetbegović. Addressed U.S. military personnel.
January 13, 1996  Croatia Zagreb Met with President Franjo Tudjman.
January 13, 1996  Italy Aviano Air Base Met with U.S. military personnel.
July 4–10, 1997  Spain Palma de Mallorca,
Madrid,
Granada		 Vacationed with King Juan Carlos I and Queen Sophia. Attended the 15th NATO Summit Meeting.
December 22, 1997  Italy Aviano Air Base Stopped en route to and from Bosnia-Herzegovina.
December 22, 1997  Bosnia and Herzegovina Sarajevo,
Tuzla		 Met with the Bosnian Collective Presidency and Bosnian Serb President Biljana Plavšić. Visited U.S. military personnel.
November 20–21, 1999  Italy Florence Attended conference on Progressive Governance for the 21st Century.
June 21–22, 1999  Slovenia Ljubljana Met with President Milan Kučan, Prime Minister Janez Drnovšek and Montenegrin President Milo Đukanović.
June 22, 1999  Macedonia Skopje Met with President Kiro Gligorov. Addressed Kosovar refugees and NATO military personnel.
June 22, 1999  Italy Aviano Air Base Addressed U.S. military personnel.
July 29–30, 1999  Italy Aviano Air Base Stopped en route to Sarajevo.
March 18, 2000  Italy Aviano Air Base Stopped en route to India.
July 30, 1999  Bosnia and Herzegovina Sarajevo Attended Stability Pact Leaders Conference.
November 19–20, 1999  Greece Athens State Visit. Met with Prime Minister Konstantinos Simitis.
November 23, 1999 Kosovo Pristina,
Uroševac,
Camp Bondsteel		 Met with Kosovar Transitional Council. Addressed the Albanian community and U.S. military personnel.
May 30 – June 1, 2000  Portugal Lisbon Attended the U.S.-EU Summit Meeting. Met with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak.[12]
George W. Bush June 12–13, 2001  Spain Madrid Met with King Juan Carlos I and Prime Minister José María Aznar.
June 16, 2001  Slovenia Kranj Attended the summit meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Also met with Prime Minister Janez Drnovšek.
July 20–24, 2001  Italy Genoa,
Castel Gandolfo,
Rome		 Attended the 27th G8 summit. Met with Pope John Paul II. Also met with Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi.
July 24, 2001 Kosovo Camp Bondsteel Addressed U.S. military personnel.
May 28, 2002   Vatican City Apostolic Palace Audience with Pope John Paul II.
May 27–28, 2002  Italy Rome Met with President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi and Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. Attended the NATO Summit Meeting and inaugurated the NATO-Russia Council.
March 16, 2003  Portugal Terceira Island Discussed the Iraq crisis with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Spanish Prime Minister José María Aznar and Portuguese Prime Minister José Manuel Barroso.
June 4–5, 2004  Italy Rome Met with President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi and Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.
June 4, 2004   Vatican City Apostolic Palace Met with Pope John Paul II.
April 6–8, 2005   Vatican City St. Peter's Basilica Attended the funeral of Pope John Paul II.
April 6–8, 2005  Italy Rome Met with President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi and Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.
June 8–10, 2007  Italy Rome Met with President Giorgio Napolitano and Prime Minister Romano Prodi.
June 9, 2007   Vatican City Apostolic Palace Audience with Pope Benedict XVI.
June 10, 2007  Albania Tirana Met with President Alfred Moisiu and Prime Minister Sali Berisha.
April 4–5, 2008  Croatia Zagreb Met with President Stjepan Mesić.
June 9–10, 2008  Slovenia Ljubljana Met with President Danilo Türk and Prime Minister Janez Janša. Attended the EU-US Summit Meeting.
June 11–13, 2008  Italy Rome Met with President Giorgio Napolitano and Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.
June 13, 2008   Vatican City Apostolic Palace Met with Pope Benedict XVI.
Barack Obama[13] July 8–10, 2009  Italy L'Aquila,
Rome		 Attended the 35th G8 summit. Also met with the leaders of Angola, Algeria, Australia, Brazil, China, Egypt, India, Mexico, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, and various international organizations.
July 10, 2009   Vatican City Apostolic Palace Audience with Pope Benedict XVI.
November 19–20, 2010  Portugal Lisbon Attended the NATO Summit Meeting and the U.S.-EU Summit Meeting. Met with President Aníbal Cavaco Silva and Prime Minister José Sócrates.
March 27, 2014   Vatican City Apostolic Palace Audience with Pope Francis.[14]
March 27, 2014  Italy Rome Met with President Giorgio Napolitano and Prime Minister Matteo Renzi. Visited the Roman Colosseum.
July 9–10, 2016  Spain Madrid, Rota Met with King Felipe VI and Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy. Also met with American military personnel stationed at Naval Station Rota.
November 15–16, 2016  Greece Athens State Visit. Met with Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and President Prokopis Pavlopoulos. Toured Acropolis and Acropolis Museum.
Donald Trump May 23–24, 2017  Italy Rome Met with President Sergio Mattarella and Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni.
May 24, 2017   Vatican City Apostolic Palace Audience with Pope Francis.
May 25–27, 2017  Italy Taormina Attended the 43rd G7 summit.
Joe Biden October 29, 2021   Vatican City Apostolic Palace Audience with Pope Francis.
October 29 –
November 1, 2021		  Italy Rome Met with President Sergio Mattarella and Prime Minister Mario Draghi. Attended the G20 summit.
June 28–30, 2022  Spain Madrid Attended the NATO Summit Meeting

Visits of former presidents

Martin Van Buren and Millard Fillmore each met (separately) with Pope Pius IX in Rome in 1855, as did Franklin Pierce in November 1857.[15] Ulysses S. Grant met with Pope Leo XIII in the Vatican in 1878, during a world tour after leaving the presidency.[16]

Theodore Roosevelt sought an audience with Pope Pius X in April 1910 while in Rome. The Pope agreed to see him, provided Roosevelt would not call on some Methodist missionaries in Rome. Roosevelt had no intention of meeting the missionaries, but he declined to submit to the pope's conditions and the interview did not take place.[17]

Former presidents George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton accompanied President George W. Bush to the funeral of Pope John Paul II in April 2005.

See also

References
  1. "Travels of President Woodrow Wilson". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
  2. "Travels of President Franklin D. Roosevelt". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
  3. "Travels of President Dwight D. Eisenhower". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
  4. "Travels of President John F. Kennedy". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
  5. "Travels of President Lyndon B. Johnson". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
  6. "Travels of President Richard M. Nixon". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
  7. "Travels of President Gerald R. Ford". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
  8. "Travels of President Jimmy Carter". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
  9. "Travels of President Ronald Reagan". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
  10. "Travels of President George H. W. Bush". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian. Archived from the original on 2011-11-09. Retrieved 2016-03-20.
  11. "Travels of President William J. Clinton". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian. Archived from the original on 2011-10-16. Retrieved 2016-03-20.
  12. "Travels of President William J. Clinton". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
  13. "Travels of President Barack Obama". U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
  14. Abdullah, Halimah (March 27, 2014). "Obama, Pope Francis meet for first time". CNN. Archived from the original on March 28, 2014.
  15. DeGregorio, William A. The Complete Book of US Presidents W.W. Norton 1989 ISBN 978-1-56980-286-1
  16. McFeely, William S. (1981). Grant: A Biography. Norton. pp. 466–467. ISBN 0-393-01372-3.
  17. Durant, John and Alice Pictorial History of American Presidents A. S. Barnes and Company 1955 p. 216
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