The visits: How former presidents have made their mark in Britain

December 1918 - The first US president to undertake a formal state visit to the UK was Woodrow Wilson. It took in not just London, but also Manchester and Carlisle, to visit his mother's birthplace.

The president had a deep affection for the Lake District, having visited the area four times before taking office. A Woodrow Wilson tourist trail has been set up in his honour in Carlisle.

September 1959 - President Dwight D Eisenhower, pictured right, spent time at a guest of the prime minister at Chequers and at Balmoral, the Queen's residence in Aberdeenshire, before travelling to Culzean Castle in Ayrshire.

It was one of several visits that the president, commander of the Allied forces in the Second World War, made to the castle. It was the seat of one of Scotland's oldest families, the Kennedys, who trace their ancestry to Robert the Bruce.

August 1945 - President Harry S Truman visited Plymouth just four days before the US dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, which hastened the end of the Second World War.

He flew into RAF Harrowbeer from talks with Allied partners in Postdam and was received by King George VI on the battle cruiser HMS Renown, before sailing back to the US on the cruiser Augusta.

August 1969 - President Richard Nixon visited RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk, which was home to thousands of members of the US Air Force. The president inspected the troops along with then Labour prime minister Harold Wilson. The pair held brief talks at the base.

June 1994 - President Bill Clinton was joined by 12 other Heads of State, including the Queen, in Portsmouth for the 50th anniversary commemorations of the D-Day landings.

July 2001 - George W Bush made a trip to the Royal Air Force base at Brize Norton on his first visit to the UK, arriving with wife Laura.

During the visit he had lunch with the Queen and held talks with the then prime minister Tony Blair.