The first insider account, timed to the 75th anniversary of Camp David.Camp David is American diplomacy's secret weapon. The home of the 2015 GCC and 2012 G8 summits, the 2000 Middle East Peace Summit, and the 1978 Peace Accords, the camp has played a vital role in American history over the past century, inviting Presidents and international leaders alike to converge, converse, and, perhaps most importantly, relax.
A peaceful mountaintop setting, crucially removed from the constant scrutiny of the press, Camp David has served as both a site of critical diplomacy and unparalleled tranquility. It is where President and Mrs. Reagan rode horses through the mountains, where President Ford could take a moment to jump on a trampoline with his daughter, where President Nixon rode shotgun with Soviet President Leonid Brezhnev, where President Roosevelt met with Winston Churchill, where President Eisenhower met with President Kennedy during a tense international moment, where President Carter brought President Anwar Sadat and Prime Minister Menachem Begin together, where President George W. Bush worshipped in the aftermath of 9/11, and where President Trump may just be starting to realize the importance of this national treasure. Under the pressure and stress, it is easy to forget that those occupying the highest seat in the land are, at the end of the day, human but at Camp David, we finally get to see these leaders at their most vulnerable, their most unguarded, and as their most true selves. |
REAR ADMIRAL MICHAEL GIORGIONE, CEC, USN (Ret.)
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PRAISE
"Giorgione captures life at the exclusive retreat and offers a glimpse into the lives of presidents and their families when they're seeking a respite from the spotlight." -Kate Andersen Brower, New York Times bestselling author of The Residence and First Women
"Insight into life at this secret hideaway used by presidents and their families over the years." -Clint Hill, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Five Presidents |
"[Giorgione] takes us behind the scenes and shows why, from Kennedy to Obama, presidents found Camp David the ideal place for both white-knuckle international diplomacy and desperately-needed decompression: a walk in these woods can restore presidential sanity." -Chris Whipple, New York Times bestselling author of The Gatekeepers: How the White House Chiefs of Staff Define Every Presidency
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