Queen Elizabeth II Met With 13 US Presidents Queen Elizabeth II, then-President George W. Bush, and then-British Ambassador David Manning arrive at the British Embassy for a dinner hosted by the queen on May 8, 2007 in Washington, D.C. (Chris Jackson/Getty Images)
By Jack Gournell | Thursday, 08 September 2022 05:13 PM EDT
When Queen Elizabeth II died Thursday at age 96 as Great Britain's longest-reigning monarch, she had met with 13 U.S. presidents: one before she became queen, and only skipping Lyndon B. Johnson.
Her visits with American leaders began in 1951, a year before she ascended to the throne, when she and her husband, Prince Philip, met with President Harry S. Truman and his family at Blair House during a visit to Washington D.C., according to Yahoo News.
In 1957, now-Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip spent four days at the White House with President Dwight D. Eisenhower and first lady Mamie Eisenhower.
In 1961, it was time for an American president to visit the queen. That's when President John F. Kennedy and first lady Jacqueline Kennedy visited her at Buckingham Palace. Elizabeth reportedly felt upstaged by Jackie Kennedy, but still had a friendly relationship with the family.
Though Elizabeth never met Johnson, her sister, Princess Margaret did meet him in 1965 during a famous White House dinner party at which Johnson said in a formal toast that he hoped the two countries' friendship would always remain so close. Later, in a not-so-formal toast, he advised Margaret's husband how to keep her happy: "First, let her think she is having her way. And second, let her have it!"
The queen did meet again with America's next president, Richard Nixon, when he and first lady Pat Nixon visited Great Britain in 1970.
She came back to American soil in 1976 for the U.S. Bicentennial celebration, dancing with President Gerald Ford.
The next year, the United States had a new president, and Jimmy Carter was part of a group of world leaders who arrived at Buckingham Palace for a summit dinner with the queen.
President Ronald Reagan and first lady Nancy Reagan visited the queen at Windsor Castle in 1982, and the president and queen rode horses. The Reagans invited the queen to their ranch, and she later visited.
In 1991, Elizabeth came to the White House where she and President George H.W. Bush planted a tree on the South Lawn. That tree was a replacement for one that had been planted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1937 in honor of King George VI's coronation. He was the father of Queen Elizabeth II.
President Bill Clinton met the queen several times, including at a D-Day commemoration at the Guildhall in London. Clinton said of her in his memoir, "Her Majesty impressed me as someone who but for the circumstance of her birth, might have become a successful politician or diplomat. As it was, she had to be both, without quite seeming to be either."
President George W. Bush met Queen Elizabeth at Buckingham Palace in 2003. She gave him a good-natured teasing for saying she had come to America in 1776 rather than 1976.
In 2016, President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama had a private lunch at Windsor Castle with the queen and Prince Philip.
Elizabeth met President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump when they visited Buckingham Palace in 2019.
And President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden met the queen in 2021 at Windsor Castle during Biden's first foreign trip as president.