President Obama’s February 2009 trip provided Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper the first opportunity to welcome the new U.S. President to Canadian soil. Their shared topics of interest include the struggling economy, climate change policy, border issues and Afghanistan.
With Canada and the U.S. enjoying the biggest bilateral economic relationship in the world, with about $1.6 billion in trade flowing back and forth each day, the topic of trade is also a significant issue between the two countries.
Thousand Island Bridge Opened by Franklin Roosevelt
President Warren Harding was the first U.S. president to visit when he attended a reception in Vancouver in 1923. It would be a decade before another presidential visit, with President Franklin Roosevelt arriving in June 1933.
Roosevelt would make another seven trips there during his Presidency. His visits happened in 1936, and during the same trip in 1938, he received an honorary degree from Queen’s University and dedicated the Thousand Islands Bridge.
He also attended two conferences, in 1943 and 1944 with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. Roosevelt’s return visits north were mainly due to his summer home on Campobello Island in the province of New Brunswick on the Bay of Fundy and his love of fishing.
This residence is today the centerpiece of Roosevelt-Campobello International Park, preserved as a memorial and as a symbol of the close friendship between Canada and the United States.
President Harry Truman was the first post-World War Two U.S. president to visit Canada and he made the trip north only once, for two days in 1947.
St Lawrence Opened by President Eisenhower
On the other hand, President Dwight Eisenhower would visit his northern neighbors three times: in 1953, 1958 and in 1959 when he joined with Queen Elizabeth II to officially open the shipping waterway that runs between Canada the U.S., the St. Lawrence Seaway.
President John F. Kennedy would visit only once, for two days in May 1961. President Lyndon B. Johnson visited three times, for the first time in September 1964 when he arrived in Vancouver to meet with Prime Minister Lester Pearson.
Johnson would return in August 1966 to lay a cornerstone at Roosevelt-Campobello International Park. His final visit would be in May 1967 to attend Expo 67 in Montreal.
In April 1972, President Richard Nixon would visit for his only trip the Canada. He met with the Governor General and Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau in Ottawa and addressed Parliament.
Travel to Canada Includes Reagan, Clinton, Both Bush Presidents
Tied with Roosevelt, Ronald Reagan would also visit Canada seven times, beginning in March 1981 when Reagan met Prime Minister Trudeau in Ottawa and addressed Parliament. He would visit again in July of the same year, to attend an economic summit with other heads of state.
Reagan’s last three visits would by in March 1985, April 1987 and finally in June 1988. This period marked a time when Reagan would form a close friendship with Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney.
Like Reagan, George Bush would also form a close friendship with Mulroney. He visited Canada four times as President, first in February 1989, then the following year in April, in March 1991, when he signed an Air Quality Agreement and finally, in July 1991.
President Bill Clinton first visited Canada in April 1993 for a summit meeting in Vancouver. Clinton would travel to the country four more times as President, in February 1995, June 1995, November 1997 and October 1999.
President George W. Bush first came to Canada as a head of state in April 2001, would come again in June 2002 for the G-8 Economic Summit and finally in November 2004.
The history of American Presidential visits to Canada demonstrates that the first visit north by President Obama will likely not be his last. The long list of shared issues and their interdependence economically assures the leaders of both country’s will remain in close contact.
Source used for this article: U.S. Department of State: Diplomacy in Action website www.state.gov
Shelley Aylesworth-Spink - Shelley Aylesworth-Spink has worked in support of communications, marketing and advertising for nearly 25 years in the private and public ...
