During the 19th century, it was frowned upon for a sitting U.S. president to travel overseas and to liaise with foreign leaders or monarchs, as it was believed that foreign customs and attitudes to leadership could have a negative impact on the mindset of the president. However, as the U.S. emerged as an international superpower in the twentieth century, foreign trips by the president became integral to establishing and cementing the U.S.' influence across the globe. The first U.S. president to travel overseas while in office was Theodore Roosevelt, when observing the construction of the Panama Canal in 1906. Since then, the frequency of international trips and number of destinations has increased gradually, and has been facilitated in improvements in air transport and infrastructure. The number of countries visited by a sitting president peaked at the turn of the millennium when presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush visited 73 and 75 individual countries respectively. When put in the context of the time spent in office, the president who visited the most countries was George H. W. Bush, who visited 38 countries during his one term in office; this works out at 9.5 different countries per year (just slightly more than his son's annual average). During his first three years in office, President Donald Trump travelled to a similar number of countries as his recent predecessors, however the coronavirus pandemic meant that he remained in the U.S. for his final year in office, while doing international summit meetings (such as the G20) virtually. For the same reason, it is unlikely that President Biden will make any international travels until the pandemic is relatively under control.
Number of individual countries visited by each U.S. president (officially, unofficially or while vacationing) between 1906 and February 2021
Country
Number of countries visited
Theodore Roosevelt
1
William Howard Taft
1
Woodrow Wilson
5
Warren G. Harding
1
Calvin Coolidge
1
Herbert Hoover
0
Franklin D. Roosevelt
25
Harry S. Truman
7
Dwight D. Eisenhower
27
John F. Kennedy
14
Lyndon B. Johnson
20
Richard Nixon
34
Gerald Ford
19
Created with Highcharts 7.2.2CountryNumber of countries visitedTheodore RooseveltWilliam Howard TaftWoodrow WilsonWarren G. HardingCalvin CoolidgeHerbert HooverFranklin D. RooseveltHarry S. TrumanDwight D. EisenhowerJohn F. KennedyLyndon B. JohnsonRichard NixonGerald FordJimmy CarterRonald ReaganGeorge H. W. BushBill ClintonGeorge W. BushBarack ObamaDonald TrumpJoe Biden
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All visits to now-defunct countries or former-colonies have been recorded in their current form (i.e. visits to French Algeria or to Ukraine during the Soviet era have been recorded as Algeria and Ukraine respectively). Current overseas territories, such as Bermuda (British) and Martinique (French) have been recorded separately from their metropole. Non-UN states have been recorded as individual countries, they are; Kosovo, Palestine, Taiwan and the Vatican City.
The majority of the information came from the individual entries for each president on the linked source. Data for President Trump is incomplete on the Department of State website, therefore a number of other sources have been used to compile this information.
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Various sources, & US Department of State. (February 18, 2021). Number of individual countries visited by each U.S. president (officially, unofficially or while vacationing) between 1906 and February 2021 [Graph]. In Statista. Retrieved February 20, 2025, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/1125727/us-presidents-number-countries-visited/
Various sources, und US Department of State. "Number of individual countries visited by each U.S. president (officially, unofficially or while vacationing) between 1906 and February 2021." Chart. February 18, 2021. Statista. Accessed February 20, 2025. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1125727/us-presidents-number-countries-visited/
Various sources, US Department of State. (2021). Number of individual countries visited by each U.S. president (officially, unofficially or while vacationing) between 1906 and February 2021. Statista. Statista Inc.. Accessed: February 20, 2025. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1125727/us-presidents-number-countries-visited/
Various sources, and US Department of State. "Number of Individual Countries Visited by Each U.S. President (Officially, Unofficially or While Vacationing) between 1906 and February 2021." Statista, Statista Inc., 18 Feb 2021, https://www.statista.com/statistics/1125727/us-presidents-number-countries-visited/
Various sources & US Department of State, Number of individual countries visited by each U.S. president (officially, unofficially or while vacationing) between 1906 and February 2021 Statista, https://www.statista.com/statistics/1125727/us-presidents-number-countries-visited/ (last visited February 20, 2025)
Number of individual countries visited by each U.S. president (officially, unofficially or while vacationing) between 1906 and February 2021 [Graph], Various sources, & US Department of State, February 18, 2021. [Online]. Available: https://www.statista.com/statistics/1125727/us-presidents-number-countries-visited/
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