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.
To date, 34 visits have been made to Italy, 23 to 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 PresidentDatesCountry or territoryLocationsKey detailsWoodrow WilsonRome, Genoa, Milan, TurinMet with King Victor Emmanuel III and Prime Minister Vittorio Orlando. VaticanApostolic PalaceAudience with Pope Benedict XV.Franklin D. RooseveltCastelvetranoVisited Allied military installations. MaltaVallettaVisited Allied military installations MaltaFlorianaAttended Malta Conference with Prime Minister Winston Churchill.Dwight D. EisenhowerRomeInformal Visit. Met with President Giovanni Gronchi.Apostolic PalaceAudience with Pope John XXIII.AthensOfficial Visit. Met with King Paul and Prime Minister Konstantinos Karamanlis. Addressed the Greek Parliament. SpainMadridMet with Generalísimo Francisco Franco. PortugalLisbonOfficial Visit. Met with President Américo TomásJohn F. KennedyRome,Naples Met with President Antonio Segni, Italian and NATO officials.Apostolic PalaceAudience with Pope Paul VI.Lyndon B. JohnsonRomeMet with President Giuseppe Saragat and Prime Minister Aldo Moro.Apostolic PalaceAudience with Pope Paul VI. Richard NixonRomeMet with President Giuseppe Saragat and Prime Minister Mariano Rumor and other officials.Apostolic PalaceAudience with Pope Paul VI.Rome,NaplesOfficial Visit. Met with President Giuseppe Saragat. Visited NATO Southern Command.Apostolic PalaceAudience with Pope Paul VI.Belgrade,Zagreb State Visit. Met with President Josip Broz Tito. SpainMadridState Visit. Met with Generalissimo Francisco Franco. PortugalTerceira IslandDiscussed international monetary problems with French president Georges Pompidou and Portuguese prime minister Marcelo Caetano.Lajes FieldMet with President António de Spínola.Gerald Ford SpainMadridMet with Generalissimo Francisco Franco. Received keys to city from Mayor of Madrid, Miguel Angel García-Lomas Mata. RomeMet with President Giovanni Leone and Prime Minister Aldo Moro.Apostolic PalaceAudience with Pope Paul VI.BelgradeOfficial Visit. Met with President Josip Broz Tito and Prime Minister Džemal Bijedić.Jimmy CarterRome,VeniceAttended the 6th G7 summit. State Visit. Met with President Sandro Pertini.Apostolic Palace Audience with Pope John Paul II.BelgradeOfficial Visit. Met with President Cvijetin Mijatović.MadridOfficial Visit. Met with King Juan Carlos I and Prime Minister Adolfo Suárez.LisbonOfficial Visit. Met with President António Ramalho Eanes and Prime Minister Francisco de Sá Carneiro.Ronald ReaganRomeState Visit. Met with President Sandro Pertini and Premier Giovanni Spadolini.Apostolic Palace Audience with Pope John Paul II.MadridState Visit. Met with King Juan Carlos I and Prime Minister Felipe González.LisbonState Visit. Met with President António Ramalho Eanes and Prime Minister Mário Soares. Addressed the National Assembly.Venice,RomeAttended the 13th G7 summit. Met with President Francesco Cossiga and Prime Minister Amintore Fanfani.Apostolic Palace Audience with Pope John Paul II.George H. W. BushRome,Nettuno Met with President Francesco Cossiga and Prime Minister Ciriaco De Mita. Apostolic Palice Audience with Pope John Paul II. Valletta,MarsaxlokkAttended the Summit Meeting with Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev. Also met with Maltese Prime Minister Eddie Fenech Adami.Athens,Souda BayMet with Prime Minister Konstantinos Mitsotakis. Addressed U.S. and Greek military personnel.MadridMet with Prime Minister Felipe Gonzalez Marquez and Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev. Attended the opening session of the Middle East Peace Conference.RomeAttended the NATO Summit Meeting. Apostolic PalaceAudience with Pope John Paul II.Bill Clinton Rome,NettunoMet with Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and President Oscar Luigi Scalfaro. Visited U.S. Military Cemetery.apostolic PalaceAudience with Pope John Paul II. NaplesAttended 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.MadridAttended the European Union Summit Meeting.TuzlaMet with President Alija Izetbegović. Addressed U.S. military personnel.ZagrebMet with President Franjo Tudjman.Aviano Air BaseMet with U.S. military personnel.Palma de Mallorca,Madrid,GranadaVacationed with King Juan Carlos I and Queen Sophia. Attended the 15th NATO Summit Meeting.Aviano Air BaseStopped en route to and from Bosnia-Herzegovina.Sarajevo,TuzlaMet with the Bosnian Collective Presidency and Bosnian Serb President Biljana Plavšić. Visited U.S. military personnel.FlorenceAttended conference on Progressive Governance for the 21st Century.LjubljanaMet with President Milan Kučan, Prime Minister Janez Drnovšek and Montenegrin President Milo Đukanović.SkopjeMet with President Kiro Gligorov. Addressed Kosovar refugees and NATO military personnel.Aviano Air BaseAddressed U.S. military personnel.Aviano Air BaseStopped en route to Sarajevo.Aviano Air BaseStopped en route to India.SarajevoAttended Stability Pact Leaders Conference.AthensState Visit. Met with Prime Minister Konstantinos Simitis.Pristina,Uroševac,Camp BondsteelMet with Kosovar Transitional Council. Addressed the Albanian community and U.S. military personnel.LisbonAttended the U.S.-EU Summit Meeting. Met with Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak.George W. BushMadridMet with King Juan Carlos I and Prime Minister José María Aznar.KranjAttended the summit meeting with Russian president Vladimir Putin. Also met with Prime Minister Janez Drnovšek. Genoa,Castel Gandolfo,RomeAttended the 27th G8 summit. Met with Pope John Paul II. Also met with Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi.Camp BondsteelAddressed U.S. military personnel. Apostolic PalaceAudience with Pope John Paul II.RomeMet with President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi and Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. Attended the NATO Summit Meeting and inaugurated the NATO-Russia Council.Terceira IslandDiscussed the Iraq crisis with British prime minister Tony Blair, Spanish prime minister José María Aznar and Portuguese prime minister José Manuel Barroso.RomeMet with President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi and Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. Apostolic PalaceMet with Pope John Paul II.St. Peter's BasilicaAttended the funeral of Pope John Paul II.RomeMet with President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi and Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.RomeMet with President Giorgio Napolitano and Prime Minister Romano Prodi.Apostolic PalaceAudience with Pope Benedict XVI.TiranaMet with President Alfred Moisiu and Prime Minister Sali Berisha.ZagrebMet with President Stjepan Mesić.LjubljanaMet with President Danilo Türk and Prime Minister Janez Janša. Attended the EU-US Summit Meeting.RomeMet with President Giorgio Napolitano and Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.Apostolic PalaceMet with Pope Benedict XVI.Barack ObamaL'Aquila,RomeAttended 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. Apostolic PalaceAudience with Pope Benedict XVI.LisbonAttended the NATO Summit Meeting and the U.S.-EU Summit Meeting. Met with President Aníbal Cavaco Silva and Prime Minister José Sócrates.Apostolic PalaceAudience with Pope Francis.RomeMet with President Giorgio Napolitano and Prime Minister Matteo Renzi. Visited the Roman Colosseum.Madrid, RotaMet with King Felipe VI and Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy. Also met with American military personnel stationed at Naval Station Rota.AthensState Visit. Met with Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and President Prokopis Pavlopoulos. Toured Acropolis and Acropolis Museum.Donald TrumpRomeMet with President Sergio Mattarella and Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni.Apostolic PalaceAudience with Pope Francis.TaorminaAttended the 43rd G7 summit.Joe BidenApostolic PalaceAudience with Pope Francis.RomeMet with President Sergio Mattarella and Prime Minister Mario Draghi. Attended the G20 summit.MadridAttended the NATO Summit Meeting Borgo EgnaziaAttended the 50th G7 summit.Donald Trump RomeTravelled for the funeral of Pope Francis, spent the night at Villa Taverna, the residence of the U.S. ambassador to Italy. Apostolic PalaceAttended the funeral of Pope Francis at St. Peter's Square.
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.DeGregorio, William A. The Complete Book of US Presidents W.W. Norton 1989 Ulysses S. Grant met with Pope Leo XIII in the Vatican in 1878, during a world tour after leaving the presidency.
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.Durant, John and Alice Pictorial History of American Presidents A. S. Barnes and Company 1955 p. 216
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.
Former president Joe Biden attended the funeral of Pope Francis in April 2025.
See also Foreign policy of the United States Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe Catholic Church and politics in the United States List of meetings between the pope and the president of the United States
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