Camp David, from FDR through Obama

President Richard Nixon looks out of a window November 22, 1972 at Camp David, Md.

Camp David has been a weekend refuge for presidents since 1942, when Franklin D. Roosevelt decided he needed to stay close to the capital during wartime while still escaping Washington's oppressive summer heat. It has served as a vacation spot, a site for summits, and a political refuge.

Camp David is photographed in July 1959.

Built in the 1930s about 70 miles from the White House in Catoctin Mountain Park near Thurmont, Md., the campground was originally for government agents and their families. It is officially a military installation (Naval Support Facility Thurmont) operated and staffed by the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps.

A guest house at Camp David c. 1948. President Roosevelt named the retreat "Shangri-la," the fictional valley in James Hilton's novel "Lost Horizon." President Dwight Eisenhower later renamed it Camp David, after his grandson.

Robert Knudsen/John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum

A view of the lower terrace of Aspen Lodge, the Presidential residence at Camp David in Frederick County, Md., in April 1961. Sassafras Cabin is visible in the background.

A view of the lower terrace of Aspen Lodge, the Presidential residence at Camp David in Frederick County, Md., in April 1961. Maple Cabin is visible in the background.

The "Witch Hazel" cabin at Camp David in winter.

Bess Truman (second from right) is pictured at Shangri-La with her Independence, Mo., bridge club: Mary Bostian, Louise Duke and Adelaide Twyman, in April 1946.

Over the years, presidents have had different attachments to the camp. President Harry Truman seldom went there. Margaret Truman found the place claustrophobic and gloomy, according to Dale Nelson's book, "The President Is at Camp David."

But President Eisenhower was a frequent visitor. An avid golfer, he had a putting green installed with tees at four distances and locations, thus essentially creating a compact four-hole golf course.

President Eisenhower and Vice President Richard Nixon meet with the National Security Council at Camp David in November 1955.

President Eisenhower hosts Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev at Camp David, September 25, 1959.

More than 50 heads of state have visited Camp David over the past seven decades, the first being British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who met with FDR in 1943 to discuss the planned invasion of Normandy.

President Dwight David Eisenhower is seen skeet shooting at Camp David, March 19, 1960.

President Eisenhower and First Lady Mamie Eisenhower relax with a game of Scrabble while vacationing at Camp David in July 1954.

President Eisenhower at a cookout for friends at Camp David, August 14, 1960.

President John F. Kennedy welcomes former President General Dwight D. Eisenhower at Camp David, April 22, 1961.

Abbie Rowe/John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum

Photographers gather to observe a meeting of President John F. Kennedy and former President Eisenhower at Camp David, Frederick County, Md.

President John F. Kennedy and former president Dwight D. Eisenhower talk at Camp David, April 22, 1961.

A view of Camp David, with dinner guests visible through windows, during an informal state visit by Australian Prime Minister Harold Holt and his wife, June 17, 1967.

President Richard Nixon and an adviser take a walk February 2, 1973 at Camp David, Md.

Camp David was Nixon's favorite sanctuary when he was in Washington, retreating there to meet with foreign leaders or escape the pressures of Watergate.

President Richard M. Nixon meets at Camp David, Maryland, on November 13, 1972 to discuss the Vietnam war with Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger (left) and Deputy Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs Maj. Gen. Alexander M. Haig Jr.

President Gerald Ford holds a bottle for a young deer as Mrs. Ford, Steve Ford and Susan Ford look on at Camp David, Maryland in 1974.

President Gerald Ford demonstrates his skill on a trampoline as his daughter Susan looks on at Camp David, Maryland in 1974.

Israeli Prime Minister Menahem Begin (left) chats with U.S. President Jimmy Carter (center) and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat during the Israeli-Egyptian peace talks at the presidential retreat of Camp David in Maryland, September 6, 1978. Begin reflected on the tight security during the talks, likening the camp to a "concentration camp deluxe."

The summit led to an historic agreement, signed in March 1979, making Egypt the first Arab nation to recognize the Jewish state.

President Ronald Reagan and U.K. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher wave after their arrival in Camp David, December 22, 1984.

Pete Souza was a young White House staff photographer when he snapped President and Mrs. Reagan after a ride at Camp David in 1984.

Higher quality image available in hub. In this Jan. 6, 1985 file photo, President Reagan and first lady Nancy Reagan walk toward the White House in Washington, with their dog “Lucky,” shortly after returning from a weekend at the presidential retreat at Camp David, Md.

Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev takes U.S. President George Bush for a ride in President Bush's golf cart on June 2, 1990, on their way to a waiting helicopter for the flight back to Washington after a day at the presidential retreat in Camp David.

U.S. President George Bush points to a pair of Texas cowboy boots he gave to Russian President Boris Yeltsin (left) on his 61st birthday, while U.S. Ambassador to Russia Robert Strauss looks on at Camp David, Md., February 1, 1992. The boots are decorated with metal plates representing the maps and flags of the U.S. and Russia.

President Bill Clinton meets with his new cabinet during a planning session at Camp David on January 30, 1993, on his first visit to the presidential retreat. Among the cabinet members at the table in front of Clinton are Secretary of Transportation Federico Pena (left); Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors Laura Tyson (center), and Secretary of Labor Robert Reich.

A White House aide carries President Bill Clinton's golf clubs to the Presidential helicopter, Marine One, on the south lawn of the White House June 27, 1997, in Washington D.C.

During a weekend treat at Camp David, President Bill Clinton putts out on the 9th green as Tony Rodham, brother of Hillary Clinton, holds the President's dog Buddy during a round at nearby Maple Run Golf Club in Thurmont, Md., Jan. 31, 1998.

President Bill Clinton shows Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak (2nd left) and Nava Barak around his office at Camp David, Md., as First Lady Hillary Clinton looks on, July 15, 1999. The Baraks were overnight guests of the president at his mountain retreat.

President Bill Clinton meets with PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat (2nd right) and members of the Palestinian delegation during the Middle East Peace Summit at the Camp David presidential retreat in Thurmont, Md., July, 11, 2000.

President Bill Clinton consults with senior Israeli negotiators (from left) Shlomo Ben-Ami, Shlomo Yanai and Gelad Sher, during the Middle East Peace Summit at the Camp David presidential retreat in Thurmont, Maryland, July 13, 2000.

Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and National Security Advisor Sandy Berger confer during the Middle East Peace Summit at the Camp David presidential retreat in Thurmont, Md., July 11, 2000.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak (left), Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat (center), and President Bill Clinton walk towards Laurel Cabin, the site where former Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, former Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, and President Jimmy Carter conducted peace talks in 1978, during the Middle East Peace Summit July 11, 2000 at Camp David, Maryland.

President Bill Clinton walks with PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat and members of the Palestinian delegation, Nabil Abu Rudeina (left) and Gamal Helal (right), during the Middle East Peace Summit at the Camp David presidential retreat in Thurmont, Maryland, July 12, 2000.

Sigal Megidish, from Israel, protests in the rain outside Thurmont Elementary School in Thurmont, Md., against the Middle East Peace Summit being held at the nearby Camp David presidential retreat, July 13, 2000.

President Bill Clinton walks with First Lady Hillary Clinton (partly hidden), their daughter Chelsea, mother-in-law Dorothy Rodham and Clinton's stepfather Dick Kelly over the South Lawn of the White House as they leave for a weekend Thanksgiving retreat at Camp David, Md., November 22, 2000.

President Bill Clinton delivers his weekly radio address from Camp David, November 25, 2000.

U.S. President George W. Bush walks with British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Bush's dog Spot at the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland, February 23, 2001.

President George W. Bush receives a briefing from National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice, left, and CIA Director George Tenet at the presidential retreat at Camp David, Md., April 7, 2001.

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi tosses a baseball to U.S. President George W. Bush during his visit to Camp David, Md., June 20, 2001.

President Bush, left, and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown walk to a joint press availability at Camp David, Md., Monday, July 30, 2007.

President Bush, left, and Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai participate in a joint press availability, Monday, Aug. 6, 2007, at Camp David, Md.

President Bush, left, walks with Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheik Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan during an arrival at Camp David, Thursday, June 26, 2008.

President Bush, right, in his golf cart with Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheik Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, during an arrival at Camp David, Thursday, June 26, 2008.

President Barack Obama, and his daughters Sasha, right, and Malia, second from right, walk across the South Lawn of the White House after stepping off of Marine One in Washington, Sunday, Oct. 3, 2010, as they return from Camp David.

As of May 2012, President Obama has visited Camp David 22 times, spending all of part of 54 days there, according to CBS News' Mark Knoller - a far less frequent visitor than his predecessor, George W. Bush, who by the same point in his presidency had made 81 visits to Camp David, spanning all or part of 256 days.

The Marine One helicopter carrying President Obama takes off from the South Lawn of the White House in Washington July 1, 2011, for Camp David, Md.

A National Park Service officer stands guard as a Buddhist monk demonstrates for world peace outside one of the entrances to Camp David on May 18, 2012 near Thurmont, Maryland.

The small town of Thurmont will help host world leaders this weekend as U.S. President Barack Obama holds the G-8 summit at the nearby presidential retreat. Although many foreign leaders have visited the retreat over the span of 13 presidential administrations, the May 2012 G-8 meeting represents the first time more than two foreign leaders have gathered there at one time.

By CBSNews.com senior editor David Morgan

The Associated Press contributed to this report.