Queen Elizabeth II met 13 U.S. presidents over her 70-year reign and became fast friends with many of them, highlighting the close relations between the United States and the United Kingdom.
31 October 1951, Washington, DC. President Harry Truman and Queen Elizabeth II are seated next to one another in the back of the open-top Lincoln Cosmopolitan Presidential state car. Images provided by the National Archives. Photograph: Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images
When she was a princess, she traveled to Washington, D.C. to meet with President Harry Truman. She ascended the throne in 1952, while Harry Truman was president, and was crowned the following year, when Dwight Eisenhower was in office. Eisenhower was the first president she met as queen, although she and Eisenhower had met previously when she was a princess and he was NATO’s first supreme allied commander in Europe.
President Eisenhower (center) meets members of the British Royal Family (from left to right) Prince Philip, Princess Anne, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, Prince Charles, and Captain John Eisenhower, at Balmoral Castle in Scotland in September 1959. Fox Images/Getty Images
Eisenhower and his wife reportedly were so charmed by the English drop scones she cooked for them during their visit to Balmoral that the queen provided him the recipe a year later.
The only president she never met was Lyndon Johnson, although they did correspond.
During her reign, she made many trips to the White House, the most recent being in 2007, when George W. Bush was in office.
The Duke of Edinburgh, Laura Bush, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, and President George W. Bush attend a State Banquet on May 7, 2007 at the White House in Washington, D.C. Anwar Hussein/WireImage photograph
The queen and President Biden have met on numerous occasions, even before he was vice president. Their final meeting took place at Windsor Castle in June 2021, during Mr. Biden’s first international trip as president.
“She reminded me of my mother in terms of her appearance and generosity,” Mr. Biden remarked at the time, noting that the White House could fit inside Windsor Castle’s courtyard.
Thursday was the last time Mr. Biden spoke with the queen, according to White House communications secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.
In 2019, former President Donald Trump dined at Buckingham Palace and had tea with the queen at Windsor Castle.
“We had a lengthy conversation. She was quite generous “Trump said during his 2018 visit.
In this photograph taken on July 13, 2018, President Donald Trump and Queen Elizabeth II inspect the Coldstream Guards’ Guard of Honour at Windsor Castle in England. Matt Dunham/AP
In 2009, 2011, 2014, and 2016, former President Barack Obama met the queen. In 2011, he was recognized at a state supper at Buckingham Palace, and in 2014, he assisted the queen down the steps in Normandy to commemorate D-Day.
Obama reportedly told Ben Rhodes in his 2018 book, “I truly adore the queen.” “She resembles my granny, Toot. Courteous. Straightforward. All about her opinions. She does not tolerate fools.”
Queen Elizabeth II and President Barack Obama pose with Michelle Obama and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, in the Music Room of Buckingham Palace on May 24, 2011, prior to a state banquet. The first lady donned a white gown by the American designer Tom Ford, along with white gloves and large drop earrings. Reuters/Getty Images
There have been awkward times between the queen and presidents of the United States.
Former President Jimmy Carter violated convention when he met the queen by kissing her on the lips rather than bowing to her. Obama maintained his toast at a Buckingham Palace banquet even after the band began playing “God Save the Queen.”
President Jimmy Carter dined with six other international leaders in the Blue Drawing Room of Buckingham Palace alongside Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh. PA Images/Participant/Getty
Several presidents exposed the queen to her favorite sports.
Former President George H. W. Bush escorted Queen Elizabeth to a baseball game in Baltimore in 1991.
In 1991, George H.W. Bush and Queen Elizabeth attended a baseball game.
The queen had a close relationship with President Ronald Reagan. According to the Reagan Library, when she and Prince Philip visited the Reagans at Rancho del Cielo in Santa Barbara, she was dismayed that bad weather prohibited her from seeing California on horseback. The queen brought the Yacht Britannia on her tour, when she and Prince Philip hosted the Reagans. Reagan spoke to the event as a “magical evening” and described the royal couple as “very warm, charming individuals.”
Queen Elizabeth II and President Ronald Reagan have a ride.
Thanks to the Ronald Reagan Library
Thursday, the queen died at the age of 96, making her the longest-reigning monarch of the United Kingdom.