2. For the rest of their time in Washington D.C., visiting heads of state routinely engage in tours of monuments, historic sites, and tourist attractions
For the remainder of their stay in Washington D.C., visiting heads of state usually engage in public social appearances at historic and tourist attractions of special relevance. A common locale for a head of state to visit is the Virginia estate of George Washington: Mount Vernon. Not only a suitable engagement, but the event also allows for the visiting dignitary to escape the city into the countryside whilst simultaneously paying their respects at the sarcophagus of George Washington.
Idyllically located on the banks of the Potomac River, the only state dinner in American history to not take place at the White House was hosted at Mount Vernon. During the state visit of Ayub Khan, President of Pakistan, in July 1961, President Kennedy elected to host his guest at the historic home of his first predecessor. Other locations commonly visited by foreign heads of state include Arlington National Cemetery, where General de Gaulle notably paid obeisance at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in 1944, and Monticello, the home of President Thomas Jefferson, first visited by Indonesian Prime Minister Sutan Sjahrir in 1947.
