NOTES

Introduction: Into the Woods

Even David Eisenhower: W. Dale Nelson, The President Is at Camp David (Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 1995).

But it’s so spooky”: Author interview with former CO Chuck Howe, December 29, 2016.

After FDR’s death: William M. Rigdon and James Derieux, White House Sailor (New York: Doubleday, 1962).

“It’s a mystical”: Author interview with former CO Mike O’Connor, December 29, 2016.

“Without Camp David”: Ronald Reagan, An American Life (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1990).

“sense of liberation”: Ibid.

“I’m free”: Author interview with former CO Mike O’Connor.

“When the president”: Ibid.

“Look,” Reagan said: Nancy Reagan, My Turn: The Memoirs of Nancy Reagan (New York: Random House, 1989).

Apples loved cigarettes: Author interview with former CO John Dettbarn, January 3, 2017.

“Anything can happen”: Author interview with former CO Keith Autry, January 19, 2017.

“If I’d dropped”: Author interview with former CO Chuck Howe.

“What color green?”: Author interview with the current Camp David historian and Navy chaplain, December 14, 2016.

“I look out”: Rigdon, White House Sailor.

one other change: Author interview with former CO John Dettbarn.

“For me, one of”: Nancy Reagan, My Turn.

“Its interior is simple”: George W. Bush, Decision Points (New York: Crown, 2010).

“Commander, you’ve got to”: Author interview with former CO Bill Waters, January 19, 2017.

“When the president attends”: Author interview with the current Camp David historian and Navy chaplain.

“there are no tourists”: Scott Benjamin, “Q&A: Laura Bush on Camp David,” CBS, December 24, 2005.

“To me, Camp David”: Claudia Alta “Lady Bird” Johnson, Lady Bird Johnson: A White House Diary (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1970).

Chapter One: The Good Ship Shangri-La

The origin of the Catoctin Mountains site: Joel D. Treese, “Hoover’s Retreat: Rapidan Camp,” White House Historical Association.

An article in the New York Times: Warren Weaver Jr., “The Camp That Was Hoover’s,” New York Times, August 14, 1987.

“This is my”: Conrad L. Wirth, Parks, Politics, and the People (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1980).

There was no wheelchair: Ibid.

During the construction: William M. Rigdon and James Derieux, White House Sailor (New York: Doubleday, 1962).

“Well, Admiral”: Ibid.

The Navy likes to: Ibid.

He liked to take: Ibid.

When there were guests: Grace Tully, F.D.R. My Boss (Chicago: Peoples Book Club, 1949).

Recalling a typical: William D. Hassett, Off the Record with FDR, 1942–1945 (Crows Nest, Australia: George Allen and Unwin, 1960).

“To give you”: George Wireman, Gateway to the Mountains (Hagerstown, MD: Hagerstown Bookbinding and Print Company, 1969).

Winston Churchill had: Rigdon, White House Sailor.

“You know, one works”: Doris Kearns Goodwin, No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1994).

“It’s fun to be”: Letter from FDR to Churchill on the occasion of Churchill’s sixtieth birthday.

Mrs. Truman had invited: Rigdon, White House Sailor.

“Petitioner states”: Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library.

“I am glad”: Rigdon, White House Sailor.

“I don’t plan”: John F. Kennedy, press conference in the State Department auditorium, February 8, 1961.

A few weeks into his presidency: Claudia Alta “Lady Bird” Johnson, Lady Bird Johnson: A White House Diary (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1970).

“I see you’ve kept”: Author’s journal.

One consistent feature: Author interview with former CO Jim Broaddus, February 7, 2017.

“He’s an urban”: Juliet Eilperin, “For President Obama, Camp David Often Ranks as the Venue of Last Resort,” Washington Post, March 20, 2015.

“G8 tends to”: Obama statement explaining change of venue from Chicago to Camp David.

Chapter Two: Reporting for Duty

“I was a reluctant”: Author interview with former CO Bob McLean, January 18, 2017.

“Booster!”: Author interview with former CO Bob Reuning, January 6, 2017.

“There must have been”: Author’s journal.

“If the president speaks”: Author interview with former CO Wendy Halsey, December 30, 2016.

What the hell: Author’s journal.

it had been fifty-two : Author interview with former CO Chuck Howe, December 29, 2016.

Mike—the toilet: Author interview with former CO Mike Berry, February 9, 2017.

Berry wasn’t overly: Ibid.

“Didn’t your predecessor”: Author interview with former CO Joe Camp, December 30, 2016.

Dettbarn lost his: Author interview with former CO John Dettbarn, January 3, 2017.

“My steps, my ice”: Ibid.

Kennedy liked the pool: Author interview with former CO Chuck Howe.

Heather Wishart was: Author diary and account of Wishart.

“The television isn’t”: Author interview with former CO Chuck Howe.

Rispoli, who is color-blind : Author interview with former CO Jim Rispoli, January 18, 2017.

CO Mike Berry was delighted: Author interview with former CO Mike Berry.

There’s an addendum: Author interview with former CO Bill Waters, January 19, 2017.

Chapter Three: Living There

By the time Mike Berry: Author interview with former CO Mike Berry, February 9, 2017.

Joe Camp’s two sons: Author interview with former CO Joe Camp, December 30, 2016.

My successor, Mike O’Connor: Author interview with former CO Mike O’Connor, December 29, 2016.

“It was like being”: Author interview with former CO Russ Rang, February 10, 2017.

“I was just wondering”: Author interview with former CO Chuck Howe, December 29, 2016.

“She talked to us”: Author interview with Hank Howe.

“Can I stay”: Author interview with former CO Bob Reuning, January 6, 2017.

Wendy Halsey’s daughter: Author interview with former CO Wendy Halsey, December 30, 2016.

Hank Howe’s friends: Author interview with Hank Howe.

“Do you live”: Author interview with former CO Wendy Halsey.

as CO John Heckmann observed: Author interview with former CO John Heckmann, February 10, 2017.

“Julia knew how”: Author interview with former CO Mike O’Connor.

“These kids are not”: Author interview with former CO Jim Rispoli, January 18, 2017.

“I thought my life”: Author interview with Hank Howe.

“Freeze! Freeze!”: Author interview with former CO Mike Berry.

“Do you know where”: Ibid.

Wendy Halsey’s thirteen-year-old son: Author interview with former CO Wendy Halsey.

Jackie Kennedy made: Author interview with former CO Chuck Howe.

“Where are my”: Author interview with former CO Mike O’Connor.

During the first month: Ibid.

“Do you want”: Author interview with former CO Wendy Halsey.

“What’s wrong”: Author interview with former CO Mike O’Connor.

Lyndon Johnson was: Author interview with former CO Chuck Howe.

Pat Nixon loved: Author interview with former CO John Dettbarn, January 3, 2017.

One day while the Reagans: Author interview with former CO Mike Berry.

The Heckmanns were: Author interview with former CO John Heckmann.

“That single two-minute”: Author interview with Master Chief Joe Maioriello, December 14, 2016.

“his congenial attitude”: Author interview with former CO Bob Reuning.

“If you want”: Presidential Pet Museum, www.presidentialpetmuseum.com.

Reagan’s Cavalier: Ibid.

The Eisenhowers were forced: Ibid.

The dogs were in: Ibid.

CO Howe recalled: Author interview with former CO Chuck Howe.

Nikita Khrushchev gifted Kennedy: Traphes Bryant with Frances Spatz Leighton, Dog Days at the White House (New York: Macmillan, 1975).

President Johnson’s beagles: Presidential Pet Museum.

At the time, the CO family: Author interview with former CO John Dettbarn.

Bush 41’s English: Barbara Bush, Millie’s Book (New York: William Morrow, 1990).

“My dog Millie”: Presidential Pet Museum.

“This is Sam’s”: Author interview with former CO Mike Berry.

Russ Rang’s family: Author interview with former CO Russ Rang.

Buddy achieved: Hillary Rodham Clinton, Dear Socks, Dear Buddy: Kids’ Letters to the First Pets (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1998).

“Are you confident”: Author interview with former CO Bob Reuning.

Vice president Dick Cheney: Dick Cheney, In My Time: A Personal and Political Memoir (New York: Simon and Schuster, 2011).

“Barney was by”: President Bush writing on the occasion of Barney’s death in 2013.

Chapter Four: Happy Campers

“How’re you doing”: Author interview with former CO Bob Reuning, January 6, 2017.

“It was a bit”: Ray L’Heureux, Inside Marine One: Four U.S. Presidents, One Proud Marine, and the World’s Most Amazing Helicopter (New York: St. Martin’s, 2014).

“On the last hill”: Author interview with former CO Mike O’Connor, December 29, 2016.

“We love this”: Author interview with former CO Mike Berry, February 9, 2017.

“I don’t want”: Ibid.

Jimmy Carter had: Sarah Pileggi, “Jimmy Carter Runs into the Wall,” Sports Illustrated, September 24, 1979.

One day he picked: Author interview with former CO Mike Berry.

When the president got: Author interview with former CO Keith Autry, January 19, 2017.

“The master chief”: Author interview with former CO Wendy Halsey, December 30, 2016.

The highlight of: Author interview with former CO Russ Rang, February 10, 2017.

By nature, those: George A. Baker III, The Making of a Marine-Scholar: Leading and Learning in the Bear Pit (Bloomington, IN: iUniverse, 2008).

Relaxing was not: Ibid.

“The president wasn’t”: Author interview with former CO John Dettbarn, January 3, 2017.

“I’m down here”: Author interview with former CO Jim Rispoli, January 18, 2017.

Weather permitting: Author interview with former CO Mike Berry.

“Oh, please forgive”: Author interview with former CO John Dettbarn.

“Whenever I could”: Author interview with former CO Keith Autry.

“I have a rare”: Jimmy Carter, press conference, May 29, 1979.

Dad gave his daughter: Author interview with former CO Russ Rang.

“Outside of golf carts”: Hillary Rodham Clinton, Living History (New York: Simon and Schuster, 2003).

“You don’t have to”: Author interview with former CO Bob Reuning.

“How do you like”: Ibid.

“Where is everybody”: Ibid.

“ ‘Heads up’”: Author interview with former CO Russ Rang.

“Is it okay”: Author interview with former CO Jim Rispoli.

“Terminator arriving”: Author interview with former CO Mike Berry.

“Commander, do you”: Author interview with former CO John Dettbarn.

“Did you hear”: Author interview with former CO Jim Rispoli.

“How I love”: Barbara Bush, Barbara Bush: A Memoir (New York: Scribner, 1994).

“My God”: Grace Tully, F.D.R. My Boss (Chicago: Peoples Book Club, 1949).

“was one expression”: Blanche Wiesen Cook, Eleanor Roosevelt, vol. 3, The War Years and After, 1939–1962 (New York: Viking, 2016).

Lady Bird Johnson confessed: Claudia Alta “Lady Bird” Johnson, Lady Bird Johnson: A White House Diary (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1970).

The Reagans relied: Author interview with former CO Mike Berry.

“The Camp David cooks”: Scott Benjamin, “Q&A: Laura Bush on Camp David,” CBS, December 24, 2005.

“We feel bad”: Author interview with former CO Jim Rispoli.

“the twelve days”: Author interview with former CO Mike Berry.

“Skipper, it’s the president”: Author interview with former CO Mike O’Connor.

One year he picked: Author interview with former CO John Heckmann.

“I’ll take over”: Author interview with former CO Mike Berry.

Chapter Five: The Spirit of Camp David

an invitation from President Eisenhower: Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library documents, September 25–27, 1959.

“It’s so beautiful”: Rosalynn Carter, First Lady from Plains (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1984).

Who should enter: Ibid.

“When the cooks”: Ibid.

National security adviser: Zbigniew Brzezinski, Power and Principle: Memoirs of the National Security Adviser, 1977–1981 (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1993).

“had not been designed”: Jimmy Carter, Keeping Faith: Memories of a President (New York: Bantam, 1982).

“The meeting was mean”: Rosalynn Carter, First Lady from Plains.

“Everybody at the dinner”: Ibid.

The children were active: Brzezinski, Power and Principle.

That night Carter had trouble: Jimmy Carter, Keeping Faith.

“What I remember”: Brzezinski, Power and Principle.

Earlier, photographs had: Jimmy Carter, Keeping Faith.

“I hope that”: Clinton announcement, July 5, 2000.

#8211;44 Bob obtained: Author interview with former chaplain Bob Williams.

“We worked day”: Madeleine Albright, Madam Secretary: A Memoir (New York: Harper Perennial, 2003).

“My two-year-old”: Ibid.

“I am not a great man”: Bill Clinton, My Life (New York: Knopf, 2004).

G8 “made my tour”: Author interview with former CO Wendy Halsey, December 30, 2016.

Thurmont hung: “Hundreds of Protesters Gathered in Thurmont; Police Close Main Street,” Frederick News-Post, May 19, 2012.

“Each time I”: Author interview with former CO Wendy Halsey.

“Actually, we made”: Ibid.

“Do you know”: Ibid.

Chapter Six: The Lonely Sentry

“Finally, a call”: Grace Tully, F.D.R. My Boss (Chicago: Peoples Book Club, 1949).

As Nancy Gibbs: Nancy Gibbs and Michael Duffy, The Presidents Club: Inside the World’s Most Exclusive Fraternity (New York: Simon and Schuster, 2012).

Lady Bird often woke: Claudia Alta “Lady Bird” Johnson, Lady Bird Johnson: A White House Diary (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1970).

In an obituary: Tom Wicker, “From Afar, an Indomitable Man, an Incurable Loneliness,” New York Times, April 24, 1994.

“When Nixon went”: Bill Gulley and Mary Ellen Reese, Breaking Cover (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1980).

“he likes to be”: Ibid.

Bob Haldeman and John Ehrlichman: George A. Baker III, The Making of a Marine-Scholar: Leading and Learning in the Bear Pit (Bloomington, IN: iUniverse, 2008).

“Haldeman was a tough guy”: Author interview with former CO John Dettbarn, January 3, 2017.

“In the mountains”: Richard Reeves, President Nixon: Alone in the White House (New York: Simon and Schuster, 2007).

“Reagan is not one”: Kenneth T. Walsh, From Mount Vernon to Crawford: A History of Presidents and Their Retreats (New York: Hyperion, 2005).

The only person: Alex Larzelere, Witness to History: White House Diary of a Military Aide to President Richard Nixon (Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse, 2009).

On August 8, 1974: Gulley and Reese, Breaking Cover.

In spite of Jimmy Carter’s success: William Leuchtenburg, In the Shadow of FDR: From Harry Truman to Barack Obama, 4th ed. (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2009).

George Bush 41 agonized: George H. W. Bush Presidential Library.

“I remember we”: Author interview with Hank Howe.

As he watched: Author interview with former CO Chuck Howe, December 29, 2016.

“My parents were”: Author interview with Hank Howe.

Jackie and the children: Author interview with former CO Chuck Howe.

“I feel strangely free”: Johnson, Lady Bird Johnson.

The morning of September 11: Author interview with former CO Mike O’Connor, December 29, 2016.

“The comforting song”: Condoleezza Rice, No Higher Honor: A Memoir of My Years in Washington (New York: Crown, 2011).

When it came time: Author interview with former CO Mike O’Connor.

Elizabeth O’Connor had gotten close: Ibid.

“Bad news”: Ibid.

“In the skies”: George W. Bush, statement to the nation, February 1, 2003.

Chapter Seven: An Unusual Duty

“Those also serve”: Julia Robb, “Service Took Seabee to Camp David,” Frederick News-Post, November 11, 2002.

“These were young kids”: Author interview with former CO Bob McLean, January 18, 2017.

CO Berry recalled: Author interview with former CO Mike Berry, February 9, 2017.

Guard duty can be lonely: The 8th & I Reunion Association is an organization of Marines who served at Marine Barracks Washington, DC.

In May 1989: Keith Snyder, “Secret Service Probe Crash at Camp David,” Morning Herald, May 12, 1989; also author interview with former CO Mike Berry.

To work at Camp David: Author interview with former CO Mike Berry.

I had a similar: Author’s journal and interview with Heather Wishart.

After a visit to Idaho: Author interview with former CO John Heckmann.

CO Joe Camp shared: Author interview with former CO Joe Camp, December 30, 2016.

“The biggest difference”: Author interview with former CO Mike Berry.

CO Autry acknowledged the stress: Author interview with former CO Keith Autry, January 19, 2017.

On occasion, though: Author interview with former CO Mike Berry.

In January 2007: Author interview with former CO John Heckmann.

Also in the context: Grace Wyler, “How Barack Obama Prepared for Tonight’s Foreign Policy Debate,” Business Insider, October 22, 2012.

When Chuck Howe was CO: Author interview with former CO Chuck Howe, December 29, 2016.

When Wendy Halsey: Author interview with former CO Wendy Halsey, December 30, 2016.

“When the leaves”: Author interview with former CO Joe Camp.

Chapter Eight: Pew One

According to the late Thurmont historian: George Wireman, Gateway to the Mountains (Hagerstown, MD: Hagerstown Bookbinding and Print Company, 1969).

Kenneth Plummer: Author interview with former CO Mike Berry, February 9, 2017.

Berry was delighted: Ibid.

“I prayed that God”: Ronald Reagan, An American Life (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1990).

“Well, I think”: Author interview with former CO Mike Berry.

“The weather was dreary”: Diary of Dee Berry.

“In many ways”: Author interview with former chaplain Bob Williams, January 16, 2017.

Months after President Obama: Amy Sullivan, “The Obamas Find a Church Home—Away from Home,” Time, June 29, 2009.

“Jackie Kennedy Onassis”: Hillary Rodham Clinton, Living History (New York: Simon and Schuster, 2003).

“He had a marvelous”: Author interview with former chaplain Bob Williams.

Once when Arnold Schwarzenegger: Author interview with former CO Mike Berry.

Again, everyone was expected: Ibid.

John Heckmann’s daughters: Author interview with former CO John Heckmann.

“The question was when”: Author interview with former CO Bob McLean, January 18, 2017.

Chapter Nine: Guesthouse to the World

“Camp David is a far more intimate”: Laura Bush, Spoken from the Heart (New York: Scribner, 2010).

For example, while Khrushchev received: Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library.

In his book Silent Missions: Vernon Walters, Silent Missions (New York: Doubleday, 1978).

“That’s a way”: Nixon tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library.

“Anything you suggest”: Ibid.

“Diplomacy is not”: Richard Nixon, RN: The Memoirs of Richard Nixon (New York: Grosset and Dunlap, 1978).

“Now, there are”: Nixon tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library.

After Reagan won: Charles Moore, Margaret Thatcher: The Authorized Biography, vol. 2 (London: Allen Lane, 2015).

As they passed Cedar: Author interview with former CO Jim Rispoli, January 18, 2017.

“He was at his”: Margaret Thatcher, The Downing Street Years, 1979–1990 (New York: HarperCollins, 1993).

The visit of Mikhail and Raisa Gorbachev: Author interview with former CO Mike Berry, February 9, 2017.

The press was at camp: Ibid.

Barbara Bush and Naina Yeltsin: Barbara Bush, Barbara Bush: A Memoir (New York: Scribner, 1994).

In spite of Putin’s opposition: Author interview with former CO Bob McLean, January 18, 2017.

President Putin had forgotten: Ibid.

“For decades, when”: President George W. Bush, statement to press, September 27, 2003.

“I learned a lot”: Amy Chozick, “George Bush Recalls Putin’s ‘My Dog Is Stronger’ Style of Diplomacy,” New York Times, July 10, 2015.

In February 1970: Author interview with former CO John Dettbarn, January 3, 2017.

The day before the barbecue: Author interview with former CO Bill Waters, January 19, 2017.

As she recalled in her memoir: Laura Bush, Spoken from the Heart.

When Blair came: Author interview with former CO Mike O’Connor, December 29, 2016.

“not to avoid”: President Bush’s remarks to the press following discussions with Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi of Japan, June 30, 2001.

“My watch was appraised”: Author interview with former CO Bob Reuning, January 6, 2017.

The supply officer lighting: Author interview with former CO Russ Rang, February 10, 2017.

Berry met Colin Powell’s helicopter: Author interview with former CO Mike Berry.

“Here I go”: Ibid.

Chapter Ten: Down the Mountain

Jacob Weller, a blacksmith: George Wireman, Gateway to the Mountains (Hagerstown, MD: Hagerstown Bookbinding and Print Company, 1969).

As Wireman explained: Ibid.

One, an elder: Almost Blue Mountain City: The History of Thurmont, Maryland, produced by Christopher Haugh, 2014.

Jackie Kennedy helped bring: Wireman, Gateway to the Mountains.

Until it closed: Brian Shane, “The Cozy: Longtime Restaurant Near Camp David Closes,” USA Today, August 8, 2014.

At its peak: Wireman, Gateway to the Mountains.

“Wire service reporters”: Helen Thomas, Front Row at the White House: My Life and Times (New York: Scribner, 1999).

Joe Reynolds: Joe Reynolds, “Trout and Tradition,” Field and Stream (May 1985).

“Everyone made a mad dash”: Thea Rosenbaum, No Place for a Lady (Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse, 2015).

Chapter Eleven: Changing of the Guard

CO Reuning marveled: Author interview with former CO Bob Reuning, January 6, 2017.

“Look, George”: Author interview with former CO Mike Berry, February 9, 2017.

In her memoir, Barbara Bush: Barbara Bush, Barbara Bush: A Memoir (New York: Scribner, 1994).

When it was time for the president: Author interview with former CO Joe Camp, December 30, 2016.

According to Lady Bird: Claudia Alta “Lady Bird” Johnson, Lady Bird Johnson: A White House Diary (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1970).

“The Fords made one”: W. Dale Nelson, The President Is at Camp David (Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 1995).

“I was torn”: Rosalynn Carter, First Lady from Plains (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1984).

Four years later: Richard Nixon, RN: The Memoirs of Richard Nixon (New York: Grosset and Dunlap, 1978).

“How’d you like”: Author interview with former CO Mike O’Connor, December 29, 2016.

“My commute took”: Author interview with former CO Mike Berry.

“The last time Bush was at church”: Author interview with former CO Bob McLean, January 18, 2017.

“The most unique”: Author interview with former CO Bob Reuning.

“The end came up quickly”: Author interview with former CO Russ Rang, February 10, 2017.

Chapter Twelve: The True Meaning of Camp David

Ronald Reagan expressed: Ronald Reagan, An American Life (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1990).

“There are resorts”: Author interview with former CO Mike Berry, February 9, 2017.

“Granddad, an excellent cook”: W. Dale Nelson, The President Is at Camp David (Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 1995).

CO Howe’s lasting memory: Author interview with former CO Chuck Howe, December 29, 2016.

“You could be sure”: Pierre Salinger, P.S., a Memoir (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1995).

“Only when you”: Nixon’s farewell words to staff.

everyman’s rest spot: Kenneth T. Walsh, From Mount Vernon to Crawford (New York: Hyperion, 2005).

“If it weren’t for”: Ronald Reagan, An American Life.

CO Autry recalled: Author interview with former CO Keith Autry, January 19, 2017.

“It’s where a president”: Walsh, From Mount Vernon to Crawford.

“In my mind, the value”: Author interview with former CO John Heckmann.

“Any tour at Camp David”: Author interview with former CO John Dettbarn, January 3, 2017.

“Hey, Commander”: Author interview with former CO Mike O’Connor, December 29, 2016.