Presidents Trip to Palm Springs Ca |
Annenberg estate (Sunnylands)
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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.
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Sunnylands Main House
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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 |
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Main Entrance
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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 |
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Aerial view of the Annenberg estate complete with its 18 hole golf course
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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
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