The President and First Lady Visit Palm Springs (1971)

Presidents Trip to Palm Springs Ca
Annenberg estate (Sunnylands)
Type Of Activity	Communications Support
Location
Location	Palm Springs California
Date of Activity	1 May 1971 to 2 May 1971
Coordinates	33°49′26″N 116°31′49″W

01 May 71 to Palm Springs CA with President and Mrs. Nixon

While the President and Mrs. Nixon were visiting the Western White House their San Clemente home, they decided to go to Palm Springs to play some golf and get away from the press for a couple of days. The CCT received very short notice about the planned trip and immediately started to load all of its equipment into a rental truck and head for Palm Springs. We had barely arrived in Palm Springs when at 12:51 pm the President boarded Army One and flew from San Clemente to Palm Springs arriving at the Annenberg estate .

The President was accompanied by several guests including, Henry Kissinger, Bebe Rebozo and Robert Abplanalp. Shortly after their arrival the President and his party started a round of golf on the course located on the 200-acre estate. President Nixon would always stay at the estate of Walter Annenberg the owner of TV Guide, Seventeen and many other publications and was the ambassador to England.

The Annenberg estate known as Sunnylands came with everything including a golf course with 18 holes situated in Rancho Mirage, CA. the 200-acre estate and had been used as a winter retreat by the couple beginning in 1966, when the house was completed.

Sunnylands Main House

The Annenberg’s envisioned Sunnylands becoming the "Camp David of the West," a place for national and foreign dignitaries and diplomats to gather for summit meetings and retreats in a relaxed setting, available to leaders from all political parties, President Dwight D. Eisenhower and his wife, Mamie, joined the Annenberg’s to golf and fish. President Richard Nixon wrote his 1974 State of the Union Address at the house, Richard Nixon also regrouped at Sunnylands after resigning the presidency on Aug. 9,1974, Nixon found himself taking solace at Sunnylands shortly thereafter. On the day he was pardoned — Sept. 8,1974 — Nixon wrote in the Sunnylands’ guest book: “When you are down, you find out who your real friends are. We shall always be grateful for your kindness and loyal friendships.” and, he was a guest at Sunnylands when President Gerald Ford pardoned him for any wrongdoing in the Watergate scandal. President Ford and his wife Betty were frequent guests as well. President Ronald Reagan and Nancy Reagan were close friends of the Annenberg’s and visited every New Year's for 18 years. President Reagan also delivered one of his final radio addresses to the nation and signed the intent to pursue NAFTA from Sunnylands in January 1989. President George H. W. Bush hosted a state dinner at the house for Japanese Prime Minister Toshiki Kaifu in 1990.

Annenberg’s study 

Main Entrance

The Sunnylands golf course has been played by every U.S. President since Dwight D. Eisenhower, with the exception of Jimmy Carter, who did not play golf. Richard Nixon (his clubs are still on the grounds), Ronald Reagan, Gerald Ford and George H.W. Bush were frequent golf guests. Bill Clinton and George W. Bush got their rounds in, and Barack Obama visited Sunnylands six times during his two terms, perpetuating the estate’s moniker as the “Camp David West.”

Sunnylands Golf Course

Aerial view of the Annenberg estate complete with its 18 hole golf course

We immediately contacted the GTE telephone company in Palm Springs before we left our shop at El Toro MCAS. At that time we placed an order to start the installation of the circuits needed for our radios. We planned to connect Baker and Charlie Base stations at Edom Hill and install base stations in the grounds keeper’s building on the estate for the USSS CP. 

Edom Hill Radio Site 

Although we had the switchboard and radio equipment installed and ready to go, we still did not have any radio keying circuits installed. After many hours of waiting for the telephone company to install these remote keying lines, we were finally able to test with the switchboard and finished up at about 4AM and left the estate. The one thing that I learned during this trip was that I could actually nap for a few minutes on the back of a golf cart.

 The next morning the President and his guests played another round of golf. I have no idea who won but when they finished, they had lunch.

 At 1:55 pm he President boarded Army One and flew from the Palm Springs estate of U.S. Ambassador Walter Annenberg, back to the Western White House in San Clemente. As soon as we heard that Army One had arrived back at San Clemente, we started to remove our equipment and load all of it into the rental truck.

It had been only a little more than 24 hours since we were notified of the visit to Palm Springs and about 30 hours without sleep and the President was gone, it was now time for us to return to El Toro and finish the Presidents stay at San Clemente.

Letters of Commendation