Intro Panel
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Alt tag: President Obama embracing Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard (AP Images)
Credit: AP Images
Caption: Australia and the United States long have been close friends and security allies. Australians and Americans share some common ancestry and history, both having been British colonies, and the two countries’ ties are often mirrored in the friendships between U.S. presidents and Australian prime ministers.
Here, President Obama greets Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard during a working lunch at the G20 Summit in Cannes, France, on November 3, 2011. Obama and Gillard were meeting with other leaders — finance ministers and central bank governors, as well as heads of state — from 20 major economies. Gillard and Obama will meet again in Australia November 16–17 and in Bali, Indonesia, at the East Asia Summit on November 19.
Panel 2
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Alt tag: President Lyndon Johnson, smiling, with his arm draped around Australian Prime Minister Harold Holt (LBJ Library photo by Yoichi Okamoto)
Credit: LBJ Library photo by Yoichi Okamoto
Caption: Former President Lyndon B. Johnson was the first U.S. head of state to visit Australia. He is seen here at an October 20, 1966, reception at Government House in Canberra, his arm draped around Australia’s then-Prime Minister Harold Holt. Johnson visited five cities — Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Townville — during his three-day tour. Media reports from the time say that Holt and Johnson got along famously well, as this photo indicates.
Panel 3
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Alt tag: President George H.W. Bush, with wife, Barbara, and others, standing in front of Air Force One (AP Images)
Credit: AP Images
Caption: Former President George H.W. Bush, accompanied by his wife, Barbara, makes farewell remarks before departing December 30, 1991, on Air Force One (seen in the background) from Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland. The Bushes were bound for Australia and Asia; Commerce Secretary Robert Mosbacher, right, and a group of U.S. business leaders traveled with them.
During his December 31, 1991–January 3, 1992, trip to Australia, Bush — who sought to advance trade between Australia and the United States — visited three cities (Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne), met with Australia’s then-Prime Minister Paul Keating, and addressed the Australian Parliament.
Panel 4
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Alt tag: President Clinton, giving a thumbs-up signal, walking beside an Australian official (AP Images)
Credit: AP Images
Caption: Former President Clinton greets a crowd gathered November 19, 1996, during ceremonies at Kingsford-Smith Airport in Sydney, while Governor General of the Commonwealth of Australia William Patrick Dean, right, looks on.
Clinton’s November four-day state visit to Australia was designed to strengthen economic and security ties. While there, he addressed a joint meeting of Parliament and visited the Great Barrier Reef.
Panel 5
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Alt tag: President Clinton greeting a crowd of well-wishers (AP Images)
Credit: AP Images
Caption: Former President Bill Clinton talks to 2-year-old Felicity Jessop and her mother, Amanda, in Canberra, Australia, on November 20, 1996.
Clinton and his wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton, were in Australia for a state visit before flying to the Philippines for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum.
Panel 6
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Alt tag: President Bush watching two uniformed soldiers holding a wreath (AP Images)
Credit: AP Images
Caption: Former President George W. Bush, center, watches as a wreath is laid October 23, 2003, at an Australian War Memorial in Canberra. Australia’s then-Prime Minister John Howard, rear right, looks on.
Bush was making the final stop of his six-nation Asia-Australia tour, where he sought support for the reconstruction of Iraq and the ongoing fight against terrorism. While in Australia, he addressed Parliament and responded good-naturedly when interrupted by hecklers.
Panel 7
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Alt tag: President Bush, surrounded by Aborigine artists in Australia (AP Images)
Credit: AP Images
Caption: Former President George W. Bush poses for a picture with Aborigine artists Gapala Yumupingu, Cathymanka Marika and Dharpococo Yumupingu (shown left to right) during a visit to the Australian National Maritime Museum in Sydney on September 6, 2007.
Bush was in Australia September 2–5 for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) conference.
Panel 8
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Alt tag: Kevin Rudd, Barack Obama, Therese Rein and Michelle Obama (AP Images)
Credit: AP Images
Caption: President Obama and his wife, Michelle, welcome Australia’s then-Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Rudd’s wife, Therese Rein, as they arrive for the G20 summit dinner in Pittsburgh on September 24, 2009. Rudd, who served as prime minister from December 3, 2007, until June 24, 2010, is now Australia’s foreign minister.
The Pittsburgh meeting was the second face-to-face encounter between Rudd and Obama; the first took place in the Oval Office of the White House in March 2009, after several phone calls between the two leaders. Rudd also met with Obama in November 2009 and again in September 2010, when Rudd made his first U.S. visit as foreign minister.
Panel 9
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Alt tag: President Obama, smiling, with Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard (AP Images)
Credit: AP Images
Caption: President Obama and Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard chat with students in an advanced-placement history class at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia, on March 7, 2011.
Earlier in the day, Gillard met with Obama in the Oval Office, marking her first visit to Washington as Australia’s prime minister. During her visit to Washington, Gillard addressed a joint session of the U.S. Congress, receiving six standing ovations. Gillard spoke about shared values and an alliance that has been steadfast for six decades.
Obama’s first official trip to Australia will take place November 16–17. He will visit Canberra and Darwin to highlight the 60th anniversary of the signing of the ANZUS (Australia-New Zealand-United States) defense treaty.
The president was originally scheduled to visit Australia in 2010, but his trip was postponed twice — initially, because of pressure to remain in Washington during critical legislative debates over health care reforms and, later, because of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. While in Australia, Obama will consult with Gillard on global and regional issues before both leaders leave for Bali, Indonesia, to attend the East Asia Summit.