Generally, American presidents feel an obligation to see situations firsthand when they commit troops to war.
Here are 27 times the Commander-in-Chief left the White House and headed for combat zones.
1. FDR visits Casablanca as Allied forces assault Tripoli, January 1943
![](https://www.wearethemighty.com/wp-content/uploads/legacy/assets.rbl.ms/17300620/origin.jpg?strip=all&quality=95)
2. FDR visits the Mediterranean island of Malta to confer with Winston Churchill, February 1945
![](https://www.wearethemighty.com/wp-content/uploads/legacy/assets.rbl.ms/17300621/origin.jpg?strip=all&quality=95)
3. Roosevelt meets Stalin and Churchill at Yalta, February 1945
![](https://www.wearethemighty.com/wp-content/uploads/legacy/assets.rbl.ms/17300622/origin.jpg?strip=all&quality=95)
4. Ike goes to Korea, December 1952
![](https://www.wearethemighty.com/wp-content/uploads/legacy/assets.rbl.ms/17300623/origin.jpg?strip=all&quality=95)
5. LBJ stops in Cam Ranh Bay, South Vietnam, 1966
![](https://www.wearethemighty.com/wp-content/uploads/legacy/assets.rbl.ms/17300624/origin.jpg?strip=all&quality=95)
6. LBJ returns to Cam Ranh Bay, South Vietnam, 1967
![](https://www.wearethemighty.com/wp-content/uploads/legacy/assets.rbl.ms/17300625/origin.jpg?strip=all&quality=95)
7. Nixon visits in Saigon, South Vietnam, July 1969
![](https://www.wearethemighty.com/wp-content/uploads/legacy/assets.rbl.ms/17300626/origin.jpg?strip=all&quality=95)
8. Reagan stops at the Korean DMZ for lunch, November 1983
![reagan commander-in-chief-in korea](https://www.wearethemighty.com/wp-content/uploads/legacy/assets.rbl.ms/17300627/origin.jpg?strip=all&quality=95)
9. Bush 41 drops in for Thanksgiving with U.S. troops during Desert Shield, 1990
![bush commander-in-chief in combat zone desert storm](https://www.wearethemighty.com/wp-content/uploads/legacy/assets.rbl.ms/17300628/origin.jpg?strip=all&quality=95)
10. Clinton with U.S. troops at Camp Casey, South Korea, 1993
![clinton in south korea](https://www.wearethemighty.com/wp-content/uploads/legacy/assets.rbl.ms/17300629/origin.jpg?strip=all&quality=95)
11. Clinton visits U.S. troops in Bosnia, January 1996
![clinton commander-in-chief in combat zone](https://www.wearethemighty.com/wp-content/uploads/legacy/assets.rbl.ms/17300630/origin.jpg?strip=all&quality=95)
12. Clinton returns to Bosnia in December 1997 to visit NATO and U.S. troops
![clinton in bosnia combat zone](https://www.wearethemighty.com/wp-content/uploads/legacy/assets.rbl.ms/17300631/origin.jpg?strip=all&quality=95)
13. Bush 43 grabs chow with the troops in South Korea, 2002
![bush 43 commander-in-chief in south korea](https://www.wearethemighty.com/wp-content/uploads/legacy/assets.rbl.ms/17300632/origin.jpg?strip=all&quality=95)
14. Commander-in-Chief Bush 43 surprises troops in Iraq combat zone, November 2003
![bush commander-in-chief in combat zone in Baghdad](https://www.wearethemighty.com/wp-content/uploads/legacy/assets.rbl.ms/17300633/origin.jpg?strip=all&quality=95)
15. Bush 43 returns to South Korea, Osan Air Base, 2005
![bush commander-in-chief in south korea speaking to stroops](https://www.wearethemighty.com/wp-content/uploads/legacy/assets.rbl.ms/17300634/origin.jpg?strip=all&quality=95)
16. Bush 43 visits Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan, March 2006
![president bush shakes troops hands](https://www.wearethemighty.com/wp-content/uploads/legacy/assets.rbl.ms/17300635/origin.jpg?strip=all&quality=95)
17. Bush 43 visits troops in Baghdad, June 2006
![bush 43 commander-in-chief in combat zone](https://www.wearethemighty.com/wp-content/uploads/legacy/assets.rbl.ms/17300636/origin.jpg?strip=all&quality=95)
18. Bush 43 visits Al-Anbar province, Iraq, September 2007
![commander-in-chief in combat zone with marines](https://www.wearethemighty.com/wp-content/uploads/legacy/assets.rbl.ms/17300637/origin.jpg?strip=all&quality=95)
19. Bush 43 returns to South Korea, August 2008
![commander-in-chief in combat zone](https://www.wearethemighty.com/wp-content/uploads/legacy/assets.rbl.ms/17300638/origin.jpg?strip=all&quality=95)
20. Bush 43 makes one last stop in Iraq combat zone, December 2008
![combat zone with president bush](https://www.wearethemighty.com/wp-content/uploads/legacy/assets.rbl.ms/17300639/origin.jpg?strip=all&quality=95)
21. Obama stops in Iraq to see the troops, April 2009
![obama in combat zone iraq](https://www.wearethemighty.com/wp-content/uploads/legacy/assets.rbl.ms/17300640/origin.jpg?strip=all&quality=95)
22. Obama stops into Osan Air Base, South Korea, November 2009
![osan air base president obama](https://www.wearethemighty.com/wp-content/uploads/legacy/assets.rbl.ms/17300641/origin.jpg?strip=all&quality=95)
23. Obama makes his first stop at Bagram Air Base, December 2010
![combat zone with president obama](https://www.wearethemighty.com/wp-content/uploads/legacy/assets.rbl.ms/17300642/origin.jpg?strip=all&quality=95)
24. Obama visits the DMZ, South Korea, March 2012
![obama at dmz](https://www.wearethemighty.com/wp-content/uploads/legacy/assets.rbl.ms/17300644/origin.jpg?strip=all&quality=95)
25. Obama makes his second trip to Afghanistan, May 2012
![president obama at bagram air field](https://www.wearethemighty.com/wp-content/uploads/legacy/assets.rbl.ms/17300645/origin.jpg?strip=all&quality=95)
26. Obama visits Yongsan Garrison, South Korea 2014
![president obama in south korea](https://www.wearethemighty.com/wp-content/uploads/legacy/assets.rbl.ms/17300646/origin.jpg?strip=all&quality=95)
27. Obama makes what was one of his last trips to Afghanistan combat zone, May 2014
![obama visiting troops in combat zone](https://www.wearethemighty.com/wp-content/uploads/legacy/assets.rbl.ms/17300647/origin.jpg?strip=all&quality=95)