Camp David

A presidential retreat in the Catoctin Mountains of northern Maryland north-northwest of Washington, D.C. It was established by Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1942 as Shangri-La. Dwight D. Eisenhower renamed it Camp David in honor of his grandson.

For more information on Camp David, visit Britannica.com.

Camp David is a Presidential weekend retreat in Maryland's Catoctin Mountains. Originally a military base, it was turned over to the White House during the Great Depression and was named Shangri-La by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. President Dwight Eisenhower renamed it Camp David for his grandson David. It consists of 180 forested acres, protected by a ring of three fences and marine guard patrols. It is maintained by 150 naval personnel and, when the President is in residence, by 250 other support staff. It contains a number of residence cabins for the President and his guests, who often include foreign heads of state. Camp David also has a heated pool, skeet range, tennis courts, and horseshoe pit. It has a conference center where administration officials can meet with the President when he is on a “working vacation.” Expenses for Camp David are part of the Navy Department budget.

See also Camp David peace talks

Situated on 142 acres in Maryland's Catoctin Mountains, about seventy miles northwest of Washington, D.C., Camp David has served as a weekend and summer retreat for United States presidents since 1942. Franklin D. Roosevelt chose the site he called Shangri-La for its eighteen-hundred-foot elevation, which made it considerably cooler than summers in the White House. He oversaw the remodeling of the camp, estimated to cost about $18,650, with sketches for the design of the presidential lodge and directions for changes to the landscaping. President Dwight D. Eisenhower renamed the site in 1953 after his father and his grandson, David.

Several important meetings with heads of state occurred at Camp David. During World War II, Roosevelt met there with British prime minister Winston Churchill, and in 1959 Eisenhower hosted Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev at Camp David. However, the site is most often associated with the 1978 talks between Egyptian president Anwar el-Sadat and Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin. President Jimmy Carter brought both men to the retreat to forge a framework for Middle East peace, which resulted in the signing of the Camp David Peace Accords on 17 September 1978. Camp David continues to be utilized by American presidents for both leisure and official government business.

Bibliography

Lesch, Ann Mosely, and Mark Tessler, eds. Israel, Egypt, and the Palestinians: From Camp David to Intifada. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1989.

Nelson, W. Dale. The President Is at Camp David. Syracuse, N.Y.: Syracuse University Press, 1995.

———. "Company in Waiting: The Presidents and Their Guests at Camp David." Prologue 28 (1996): 222–231.

—Dominique Padurano

"NSF Thurmont" redirects here. For the episode of The West Wing, see NSF Thurmont (The West Wing).

Main Lodge at Camp David during Nixon administration, February 9, 1971.

The Naval Support Facility Thurmont, popularly known as Camp David, is the rustic 125 acre (0.5 km²) mountain retreat of the President of the United States. Camp David is part of the Catoctin Mountain Park recreational area in Frederick County, Maryland,  miles ( km) north of Washington, D.C., about  miles ( km) southwest of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania and about  miles ( km) east of Hagerstown, Maryland. It was founded by President Franklin D. Roosevelt as Shangri-La and later renamed Camp David after Dwight Eisenhower's grandson, David Eisenhower.

Gallery

George H. W. Bush meets with his National Security advisors in the Laurel Lodge conference room on August 4, 1990.	George W. Bush meets with his advisors at Camp David on January 17, 2004, while preparing for his State of the Union address.	From Camp David, Vice President Dick Cheney and members of the Interagency Team on Iraq participate in a video teleconference with President George W. Bush in Baghdad, Iraq.	President George W. Bush and Chief of Staff Josh Bolten walk together with the President's dog, Barney, at Camp David, July 21, 2007.
Shinzo Abe and George W. Bush at Camp David in 2007.	Menachem Begin, Jimmy Carter and Anwar Sadat at Camp David, September 7, 1978.	Menachem Begin poses at Camp David, 1978.	Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian president Anwar Sadat with U.S. president Jimmy Carter at Camp David in 1978.
President of Egypt Anwar Sadat and Jimmy Carter meet at the beginning of the Camp David Summit in 1978.	Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin at Camp David, 1978.	Boutros Boutros-Ghali, Foreign Minister of Egypt (later United Nations Secretary-General) at Camp David, September 12, 1978.

See also

• White House, official residence of the President of the United States
• List of official residences
• Site R, nearby bunker and communications center.

Analogous facilities

Novo-Ogaryovo, country residence of the President of Russia Zavidovo, country residence of the President of Russia Chequers, country residence of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Harpsund, country residence of the Prime Minister of Sweden Harrington Lake, country residence of the Prime Minister of Canada

Marienborg, summer residence of the Prime Minister of Denmark Kultaranta, summer residence of the President of Finland Lohn, country estate of the Swiss Federal Council outside Berne

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Category:Camp David

• Camp David official White House page
• Camp David from the Federation of American Scientists

Coordinates: 39°38′54″N, 77°27′54″W

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