Presidential Seclusion: The Power of Camp David by Charles Ferguson
Non-Fiction, Political History, Biography
Publisher: Prometheus Books
Published: 11.4.25
Pages: 216
Rating: 4.5 stars
Format: Hardback
Source: The Globe Pequot
Sellers: Amazon
ADD TO: GoodReads
GoodReads Synopsis:
Behind the gates of Camp David—where presidents find solitude, forge diplomacy, and shape history in absolute secrecy.
The Presidential Retreat Camp David is shrouded in mystery, and rightfully so. The hidden retreat atop the Catoctin Mountains is the one place the President, First Family, and invited guests can gather in absolute secrecy for relaxation, rejuvenation, and world-changing decisions. Because of this dedication to privacy, and a desire to maintain the mystery and exclusivity of the last bastion of solitude for the President, few comprehensive accounts exist detailing the storied history of Camp David and the role the “Spirit of Camp David” plays in world affairs.
Presidential Seclusion provides an exclusive account of the mysterious and storied retreat. Extensively researched from Presidential Archives as well as from the pages of Presidential memoirs, this non-partisan, informative account weaves exclusive stories into a tapestry revealing the importance of Camp David on diplomacy and world history. Written by the former Camp David Historian, this personalized tour of the exclusive retreat makes tree-shrouded trails, majestic vistas, and rooms where history happened over the last 80 years accessible to everyone. As you read, the “Spirit of Camp David” is revealed to infuse everyone who works and visits the President’s private mountain retreat, mainly how Camp David personally affected its primary guests, the fifteen First Families fortunate to call the private retreat a second home.
Sophia Rose's Review:
I grew up in the Carter-Reagan Era and hearing now and then about Camp David when the news mentioned the president meeting with a world leader or the president’s family taking a vacation there. Oddly, I’ve never been that curious about it until recently when Presidential Seclusion came to my notice. All of a sudden, I was excited for a ‘behind the scenes’ look at Camp David and learn about its rich part in US History and Politics.
The author, Charles Ferguson, has an insider’s perspective and spent much time gathering up the history and stories of Camp David when stationed aboard Camp David as Presidential Naval Chaplain. He began the book explaining his connection to Camp David and how the book was put together. He was keen on letting the individuals at the time share the history rather than him narrating so there are many direct quotes throughout the book.
Presidential Seclusion is structured chronologically beginning when President Roosevelt’s yachts were no longer a safe retreat for him during WWII and a search began for a more secure inland retreat that offered respite from the hot and humid DC summers and was still in easy distance of the capitol. I was fascinated with how the location was chosen in the Catoctin Mountains of Maryland and Shangri-La came into existence and how this inland ‘camp’ had such a naval connection. From a not quite happy Roosevelt, to an indifferent Truman, it took until Eisenhower before Shangri-La (re-christened Camp David after one of his grandchildren) became truly appreciated. In a fun twist of humor, after Ike, each succeeding president was told by his predecessor that Camp David was a haven and each one had to experience it to believe it.
Camp David has welcomed such illustrious personalities as Winston Churchill, Nikita Khrushchev, John Steinbeck, Billy Graham, Beyonce, and so many more. It has been treated as a private First Family retreat, a peace summit, a conference and event center- always meeting the current sitting president’s needs.
All in all, I found my curiosity satisfied and my knowledge expanded. The mystique of Camp David and its ability to calm and refresh those fortunate to visit does sound like that Shangri-La Roosevelt envisioned. Ferguson did a fabulous lob of melding fact with fun stories that made the people and the place more real.
Author Bio:
Charles Ferguson spent three and a half years as the Camp David Historian and Presidential Chaplain. During that time, he coordinated with 14 Presidential Libraries to better tell the true story of the President’s exclusive mountaintop retreat, scouring records and memoirs for engaging stories, providing glimpses into the hidden world of Camp David. Conducting hundreds of tours for personal guests of the President, his accessible storytelling draws you into the wonders of Camp David as if you are walking the historical private trails with your own personal tour guide.
His writings have appeared on the Faith and Leadership website and in The Presbyterian Outlook, Presbyterians Today, and the United States Naval Institute’s Proceedings magazine.
Sophia’s Bio:
Sophia is a quiet though curious gal who dabbles in cooking, book reviewing, piano-playing, and gardening. Road trips and campouts, museums and monuments, restaurants and theaters are her jam. Encouraged and supported by an incredible man and loving family. A Northern Californian transplant to the Great Lakes Region of the US. Lover of Jane Austen, Baseball, Cats, Scooby Doo, and Chocolate.
As a lifelong reader, it was inevitable that Sophia would discover book blogs and the joy of blog reviewing. Sophia is a prolific reader and audiobook listener which allows her to experience so many wonderful books, authors, and narrators. Few genres are outside her reading tastes, but her true love is fiction particularly history, mystery, sci-fi, and romance. Though, sorry, no horror or she will run like Shaggy and Scooby.
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