FREDERICK COUNTY, Md. — As the pace of the Taliban's nearly complete takeover of Afghanistan stunned President Joe Biden and other U.S. officials, questions as to why Biden chose to remain at Camp David for as long as he did began circulating.
Senior White House officials told the Associated Press that while Biden remained at Camp David through Monday, he continued to receive regular briefings on Afghanistan and held secure video conference calls with members of his national security team.
The AP reports Biden had been at the presidential retreat and largely out of public view since Friday. Biden delivered an address on Monday at the White House but is scheduled to stay through Wednesday at Camp David.
But what exactly is Camp David? Here's what you need to know about the location.
According to the White House, Camp David, known formerly as the Naval Support Facility Thurmont, is the president's country residence.
It's located in Catoctin Mountain Park in Frederick County, Maryland, and has offered every president since Franklin D. Roosevelt an "opportunity for solitude and tranquility, as well as an ideal place to work and host foreign leaders."
How did Camp David get its name?
The president's country residence wasn't always called Camp David.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt originally dubbed it the USS Shangri La and modeled the main lodge after his family's winter vacation home in Georgia, the White House says.
President Dwight Eisenhower later renamed the location in honor of his grandson David.
What is Camp David's purpose?
According to the White House, Camp David is an "opportunity for solitude and tranquility, as well as an ideal place to work and host foreign leaders."
Beyond that, Camp David is used "extensively" to host foreign dignitaries. Of note, the White House says Prime Minister Winston Churchill of Great Britain was the first to visit in such a capacity in May 1943.
Perhaps most famously, the White House says the site was host to the summit held in 1978 for Egyptian President Anwar al-Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and resulted in what is now known as the Camp David Accords.
