Monday, February 20, 2012

PRESIDENTS' DAY. HOW MANY OF THEM VISITED GUAM?

I am working only from memory.  If anyone knows of any others, let me know.  But how many sitting presidents of the United States have ever, even ever so briefly, visited Guam?


flickr.com
President Lyndon Johnson at Guam Airport
March 19, 1967

LBJ came to Guam that year to have talks with the South Vietnamese leadership; Chief of State Nguyen Van Thieu and Premier Nguyen Cao Ky.  The Vietnam War was in full swing.

There was a big crowd of Guam residents, civilian and military, at the airport.  See footage at :

http://www.criticalpast.com/video/65675061794_Lyndon-Johnson_strategy-conferences_South-Vietnam-leaders_crowd-gathers.

janeresture.com
President Richard Nixon (and wife Pat) on Guam
July 25, 1969

At a famous press conference on Guam that day, Nixon stated what became known as the Guam Doctrine, wherein he promised assistance to allied nations fighting communist aggression, but placing primary responsibility on these countries for their own defense.  It was a way the U.S. could slowly, and without embarrassment, pull out of the unpopular Vietnam War; something Nixon campaigned on and helped win him the election.

Sleep Over at Nimitz Hill

Then, on February 20, 1972, while on the way to China to be the first American President to ever visit that communist country, President and Mrs. Nixon flew to Guam to spend the night at the Admiral's place on Nimitz Hill.

You can see footage of the 1969 visit (on a wet runway) at :

http://www.criticalpast.com/video/65675073760_Richard-Nixon_Ferdinand-Marcos_visit-to-Guam_crowd-to-welcome.


blogs.telegraph.co.uk
President Bill Clinton
November 23, 1998

Hillary came as well, and she returned to Guam years later as Secretary of State.



President Barack Obama
November 19, 2011

But he just needed gas.

clker.com

An aside

Besides sitting presidents, Dwight Eisenhower visited Guam as a president-elect when, in December of 1952, having won the race for the White House, he stopped on Guam on his way back to the U.S. from a trip to South Korea.

George Herbert Walker Bush was a Navy pilot on the USS San Jacinto, which made stops at Guam during WWII.

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