What Queen Elizabeth's relationship was like with every US president, from Truman to Biden
Queen Elizabeth II died in 2002 at age 96 after 70 years on the throne, the Royal Family announced.
Since 1951, the Queen met with 12 US presidents and helped facilitate diplomatic relations.
Here's what the Queen's relationships and meetings with US presidents have been like.
Queen Elizabeth II died in 2002 at age 96 after an unprecedented 70-year reign.
The Queen, who ascended to the throne in 1952 and was the world's longest-reigning monarch at the time of her death, played a major role in facilitating the US and UK's "special" diplomatic relationship.
The Queen traveled to Washington, DC for the first time to meet President Harry Truman in 1951 when she was still a princess. She's met 12 US American presidents total at places including Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle, the White House, and even a Baltimore Orioles game.
Here's what the Queen's relationships and meetings with US presidents have been like, from Harry Truman to Donald Trump.
This post was first published in September 2022 and has been updated.
When Queen Elizabeth was still a princess in 1951, she traveled to Washington, DC to the first time to meet President Harry Truman, and the two complimented each other's nations. "Free men everywhere look towards the United States with affection and with hope," she told Truman.
Sources: Vogue, UC Santa Barbara Presidency Project
The queen developed a close friendship with President Dwight Eisenhower, who hosted Her Majesty for her first state visit to the US as queen. They corresponded by letter for years — with the queen even sharing her recipe for grilled scones with Eisenhower.
Source: BBC America
The queen reportedly felt upstaged and outshined by Jacqueline Kennedy when she and President Kennedy toured France and England in the summer of 1961. The queen hosted them at Buckingham Palace.
Source: Washington Post
Nevertheless, Queen Elizabeth and President Kennedy warmly corresponded until he died in 1963, after which the queen created a physical memorial and a scholarship fund in Kennedy's honor.
Source: Washington Post
President Richard Nixon met the queen multiple times during his time as vice president and president — and reportedly tried to fix his daughter Tricia up with Prince Charles, the queen's eldest son.
Source: BBC America
President Gerald Ford hosted Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip for a state dinner. "If I hadn't kept mixing up Your Highness and Your Majesty (he's His Highness, she's Her Majesty) I'd give myself four stars for the way that visit went off," First Lady Betty Ford wrote of the dinner in her memoirs.
Source: Ford Presidential Library
Outside of the occasion's formalities, the Fords did have a humorous moment with the queen during the 1976 visit that involved their 24-year-old son, Jack.
Kate Andersen Brower, the author of "First Women: The Grace and Power of America's Modern First Ladies," told CNN that when the Fords brought the queen and Prince Philip to the residence before the visit's dinner, they ran into Jack, who was wearing jeans and a t-shirt.
The queen reassured the first lady about the run-in, saying: "Don't worry, Betty, I have one of those at home, too."
President Jimmy Carter committed an infamous faux-pas in kissing the Queen Mother on the lips during his visit to Buckingham Palace to attend a NATO event.
Source: BBC America
Queen Elizabeth developed a close relationship with President Ronald Reagan, with whom she shared a love of horseback riding.
Source: BBC America
The queen was reportedly very friendly with both Nancy and Ronald Reagan, whose family ranch she visited in 1983.
Brower told CNN the first lady wrote about the queen in her memoir and the two "had a good relationship."
Reagan wrote that the queen came to the ranch after the president and first lady mentioned it during a visit to Windsor Castle, and the queen wanted to ride horses.
Though the queen made it to the ranch, "the weather was awful, so instead the Reagans left the ranch to go on the royal yacht Britannia," Brower told CNN.
Despite the change of plans, Reagan wrote: "I spent that evening with the Queen, sitting on a sofa in the large living room, talking about our children like old friends."
In 1989, the queen granted Reagan honorary knighthood — the highest distinction the United Kingdom awards foreigners — in recognition of Reagan's assistance to the UK in the Falkland Wars.
Source: Associated Press
George H.W. Bush, a life-long baseball fan, took Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip to a Baltimore Orioles vs. Oakland Athletics game in 1991 — the first time the queen had been to a baseball game.
Source: Politico
After President Bush died in December 2018, the queen put out a statement that honored him as "a great friend and ally of the United Kingdom" and a "patriot." She also sent Prince Charles to represent the Royal Family at his funeral.
Source: Town & Country, Marie Claire
“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 Bill Clinton wrote of the queen in his memoir.
Source: BBC America
In 2007, Queen Elizabeth poked some light-hearted fun at George W. Bush over his mistakenly saying she had to come to celebrate America's bicentennial in 1776 instead of 1976.
Source: The Guardian
In 2009, President Barack Obama gifted the queen an iPod with historical video footage of her previous visits to the US going back to the 1950s, as well as his 2009 inaugural address and 2008 speech at the Democratic National Convention.
Source: BBC America
In her memoir "Becoming," Michelle Obama described accidentally violating royal protocol by putting her arm around the queen as a show of affection and support, but says Her Majesty didn't seem offended and reciprocated the gesture back.
Sources: BBC America, Harper's Bazaar
President Donald Trump was accused of committing several royal faux-pas during his summer 2018 visit to England — including being late to meet the queen at Windsor Castle, walking in front of her, shaking her hand instead of bowing, and turning his back to her.
Sources: USA Today, The New York Times
While the queen has been diplomatically mum on her opinions of Trump, he has praised Her Majesty. "If you think of it, for so many years she has represented her country, she has really never made a mistake. You don't see, like, anything embarrassing. She is just an incredible woman," Trump said of the queen before their meeting.
Source: Town & Country Magazine
Trump embarked on his second chance to connect with the queen in June 2019, when they opened the three-day state visit to the UK at Buckingham Palace. He joined her to commemorate the 75th anniversary of D-Day.
Source: Business Insider
President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden met with The Queen in June 2021, when they traveled to the United Kingdom for the G7 summit in Cornwall.
Biden was full of praise for The Queen, who he had first met in 1982 as a US Senator.
"I don't think she would be insulted, but she reminded me of my mother in terms of the look of her and just the generosity," Biden told reporters in 2021 after meeting with The Queen.
The Queen, known for her dry humor, also made Biden and other leaders laugh by joking: "Are you supposed to be looking as if you're enjoying yourself?" during a group photo, Politico reported at the time.
The First Lady and Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, also made an appearance at a school together.
The Duchess and the First Lady paid a visit to the students at Connor Downs Academy and fed carrots to one of the school's rabbits, Storm.
Ellen Cranley contributed reporting.
In a statement, the Bidens called Queen Elizabeth "a steadying presence and a source of comfort and pride for generations of Britons."
"Queen Elizabeth II led always with grace, an unwavering commitment to duty, and the incomparable power of her example," the Bidens said of The Queen.
—Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) September 8, 2022
Ellen Cranley contributed reporting.
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