Talk:Camp David

Location
From the wiki article:

Catoctin Mountain Park does not indicate the location of Camp David on its official park maps due to privacy and security concerns.

It can easily be found on Google Maps, heck, Camp David is just off Park Central Rd. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 206.188.64.244 (talk) 22:16, 23 November 2013 (UTC)

Untitled
From http://www.nps.gov/disclaimer.htm : "Information presented on this website, unless otherwise indicated, is considered in the public domain."

From Mount Vernon to Crawford
We might need to use the book From Mount Vernon to Crawford by Kenneth Walsh for this article, as it could use some sources, even if largely from an NPS site.--Bedford 04:41, 5 September 2007 (UTC)

Possible Copyright Violation
A great deal of content is taken verbatim from an article located at the Federation of American Scientists site at http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/usa/c3i/campdavid.htm. There is nothing noting that the material is in the public domain on that page, and the main site of the FAS states, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. We should look into this to make sure it doesn't violate any copyright rules. RobHoitt 00:31, 8 September 2007 (UTC)


 * Just to be safe, I checked the NPS website, very little of the content here seems to be derived from that page http://www.nps.gov/cato/. RobHoitt 00:39, 8 September 2007 (UTC)
 * As per the instructions on WP:CV, it is possible to revert to a non-copyrighted version, but it dates back to a stub at 06:47, 12 December 2001 (UTC). Realistically, I can still preserve the gallery and links sections. Zzyzx11 (Talk) 00:18, 16 September 2007 (UTC)
 * The Establishment section and Post World War II era and Modern era all seem to come from here. Some of the FAS material seems to come from here (the old Clinton whitehouse.gov site). FAS largely republishes material from other sources, so finding something on FAS without a credit is a tipoff that another source should be sought. I'd rather we wrote our own article but I think there is no copyright issue here; do others agree? --Dhartung | Talk 01:17, 16 September 2007 (UTC)
 * I guess the ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. I think Zzyzz11 did the right thing here. (And I should point out that his user name comes from a way too archaic Zork reference.) Cheers! RobHoitt 00:45, 20 September 2007 (UTC)

Obama at Camp David
Shouldn't this article be updated with news and photos of Barack Obama and his family at Camp David? It seems to concentrate mainly on Bush at the moment. 92.9.92.72 (talk) 17:10, 29 March 2009 (UTC)

Two years later, the question still remains...where are pictures of the current president at Camp David? 203.110.206.180 (talk) 11:41, 17 May 2011 (UTC)


 * Welcome to Wikipedia, the encyclopedia ANYONE can edit. If you think it's missing something, go find it! Every president has used Camp David with varying degrees, President Bush used it quite often so that's why there are many pictures from the Bush era (plus it was 8 years). It seems as though President Obama doesn't use it as much, or at least not to much publicity. --WGFinley (talk) 05:21, 28 January 2012 (UTC)

I went looking tonight and unfortunately there are ZERO Camp David images at whitehouse.gov for President Obama. I have found some Camp David images of him but without sources I am unable to tell if they are government photos (which we can use) or press photos (which we can't). I'll keep an eye out because it would be nice if there was something in the gallery from each president. --WGFinley (talk) 08:04, 28 January 2012 (UTC)

Analaogous Facilities
The Bonnie Doon Reference for the Australian Prime Minister is a spoof as far as I can tell. Kirribilli House is the Sydney Residence of the Prime Minister of Australia. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 203.35.82.133 (talk) 23:37, 21 April 2009 (UTC)

Marine Corps-centric
It seems this article has become more and more about the military (or naval) nature of Camp David. While interesting, it is not exactly on topic. Ought we to do a serious pruning of the article? Paul, in Saudi (talk) 02:51, 3 September 2011 (UTC)
 * I have struck that section, it looks good but appears to be original research as there's not a single source citation in the section. I tried to look for sources for that section and found nothing. Since it's been unsourced for nearly two years I removed the section. --WGFinley (talk) 05:18, 28 January 2012 (UTC)
 * I like it better now without the USMC focus. Paul, in Saudi (talk) 07:34, 28 January 2012 (UTC)

Pictures
I believe the pictures need to be cleaned up. Some of them barely show Camp David at all and just focus on people. In particular, the pictures that only shows a tennis court wall, a door, or a dark, blurry background. EternalFlare (talk) 23:03, 30 January 2013 (UTC)

Seconded! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2600:8800:301:9B00:414F:D767:8C71:3877 (talk) 17:03, 19 June 2017 (UTC)


 * This website < https://whitehouse.gov1.info/camp-david/ > contains photos. It also includes photos of Presidents' Harry Truman and Donald Trump, both of which seem to be omitted.  Let us eat lettuce (talk) 23:21, 25 August 2017 (UTC)

Presidential Use Section
I noticed when adding a citation for the Bill Clinton post that most of the bullet points in this section have been pulled verbatim from source number 14 in the 'References' section. I updated the Bill Clinton point, but it might be a good idea to update the others as well. --Alwhela1 (talk) 05:56, 12 February 2018 (UTC)

The entry for Trump brings up spending time at his properties at tax payers expense. While accurate, this does not seem to fit the general feel of this section as that does not pertain to Camp David. Additionally, the way it is written comes across as editorialized. The entries for other presidents do not mention the other places that they preferred to go to. Consider removing non-Camp David material or re-writing section.Butch81385 (talk) 15:09, 17 July 2018 (UTC)

I have already changed the Presidential Use chart for Trump from "2" to "N/A" once. Why has it been changed back to 2? Where is the citation that says it is 2? That information is definitely not in the book cited for the chart. The total for Trump should be "N/A" unless someone can cite a reputable source. Couchinsurance (talk) 15:03, 5 May 2020 (UTC)

The number for Trump has been changed to "13". As I have pointed out before, the majority of information in the table was pulled from the source listed. However, there are NO data in the book about Trump's visits. The statistic for Trump will need to be sourced elsewhere. As of right now it is not. Where does the 13 come from? If it isn't cited, it should be removed. Couchinsurance (talk) 06:30, 27 June 2020 (UTC)

Who is whose source?
A book that was self-published in 2016 appears to have copied previously unsourced material from this Wikipedia page and later was cited as the source for the same material (p.115). I removed it. I did some editing of the WP page today. The following is the text as it was before then. I bolded the parts that are used in the book.
 * Camp David is the country retreat for the president of the United States. It is located in the wooded hills [about 62 miles north-northwest of Washington, D.C.,] in Catoctin Mountain Park, in Frederick County, Maryland, near the towns of Thurmont, and Emmitsburg, about 62 miles (100 km) north-northwest of the national capital city of Washington, D.C.[1][2][3] It is officially known as the Naval Support Facility Thurmont, because it is technically a military installation, the staffing is primarily provided by the Seabees, Civil Engineer Corps (CEC), and the United States Navy and the United States Marine Corps. Naval construction battalions are tasked with base construction and send detachments as needed.


 * Originally [First] known as Hi-Catoctin, Camp David was built as a camp for federal government agents and their families by the [WBA] Works Progress Administration.[4] Construction started in 1935 and was completed in 1938.[5] In 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt converted it to a presidential retreat and renamed it "Shangri-La" (for the fictional Himalayan paradise in the 1933 novel Lost Horizon by British author James Hilton).[4]


 * Camp David received its present name in 1953 from Dwight D. Eisenhower, in honor of his father, and grandson, both named David.[6]


 * The Catoctin Mountain Park does not indicate the location of Camp David on park maps due to privacy and security concerns, although it can be seen through the use of publicly accessible satellite images.


 * Franklin D. Roosevelt hosted Sir Winston Churchill at Camp David in May 1943.[7] Dwight D. Eisenhower held his first cabinet meeting there on November 22, 1955 following hospitalization and convalescence he required after a heart attack suffered in Denver, Colorado on September 24.[8] Eisenhower met there with Nikita Khrushchev for two days of discussions in September 1959.[9][self-published source?]


 * John F. Kennedy and his family often enjoyed riding and other recreational activities there, and Kennedy often allowed White House staff and Cabinet members to use the retreat when he or his family were not there.[9] Lyndon B. Johnson met with advisors in this setting and hosted both Australian prime minister Harold Holt and Canadian prime minister Lester B. Pearson there.[10] Richard Nixon was a frequent visitor. He personally directed the construction of a swimming pool and other improvements to Aspen Lodge.[11] Gerald Ford often rode his snowmobile around Camp David and hosted Indonesian president Suharto there.[12]


 * Jimmy Carter initially favored closing Camp David in order to save money. Once Carter actually visited the place, he decided to keep it.[13] Carter brokered the Camp David Accords there in September 1978 between Egyptian president Anwar al-Sadat and Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin.[7] Ronald Reagan visited the retreat more than any other president.[9] In 1984, Reagan hosted British prime minister Margaret Thatcher.[9] George H. W. Bush's daughter, Dorothy Bush Koch, was married there in 1992, in the first [ever] wedding held at Camp David.[14] During Bill Clinton's time in office, British prime minister Tony Blair was among the many visitors that the president hosted at Camp David.[15][self-published source?] He also held the 2000 Camp David Summit between Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian Authority chairman Yasser Arafat.[16]


 * George W. Bush hosted dignitaries, including President of Russia Vladimir Putin, there in 2003,[17][18] and hosted British prime minister Gordon Brown, in 2007.[19] He also hosted Danish prime minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen in June 2006,[20] and President Musharraf of Pakistan at Camp David.[21] Barack Obama chose Camp David to host the 38th G8 summit in 2012.[22] President Obama also hosted Russian prime minister Dmitry Medvedev at Camp David,[23] as well as the GCC Summit there in 2015.[24]

Space4Time3Continuum2x (talk) 14:15, 16 May 2020 (UTC)

Camp David Practice Golf Facility
President Eisenhower had the famous golf course architect Robert Trent Jones design a par 3 of a maximum 140 yards with four different tees. Ike also had a 250 yard driving range put in.<ref]https://aboutcampdavid.blogspot.com/2010/08/camp-david-golf-course.html </ref] Eisenhower, Kennedy, Nixon, Ford, Bush Sr., Clinton, Bush Jr., Obama, and Trump were/are golfers. 73.85.200.118 (talk) 15:43, 18 May 2020 (UTC)

I understand that presidents played golf but why is there suddenly a HUGE amount of golf-related information on this page? A section discussing the facilities at Camp David for golfing seems fine, but all the various references peppered throughout the page seems terribly slapdash. In my opinion, the references should be removed or at the very least better arranged. Couchinsurance (talk) 20:59, 20 May 2020 (UTC)
 * I agree, and I removed the unsourced ones. Since Eisenhower had the "golf course" built, I left the mention in the lead, and I removed the blog and added a proper source to the golf section. Space4Time3Continuum2x (talk) 21:09, 20 May 2020 (UTC)

code name?
This article states: "It is code named Naval Support Facility Thurmont." Not sure this is a code name (a somewhat melodramatic term often used to make it sound like something sinister, clandestine, or secretive), it is just the official facility name for this USN operated base, consistent with many other support, as opposed to operational, bases around the world. Like most U.S. military bases, these facilities typically are named for a local geographic feature or city unless they get named for some specific historical figure, e.g., NSF Arlington (for Arlington VA) or NSF Dahlgren (for Rear Admiral John Adolphus Dahlgren - also in VA east of Fredericksburg). Thurmont MD (about 3 miles away from the base) is the closest town to Camp David (which if anything, is probably better described as a "code name"). — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2601:801:300:7520:B0DB:1C4F:A8F7:D964 (talk) 19:37, 27 March 2024 (UTC)