6. Eisenhower considered closing Shangri La as an unnecessary expense
President Eisenhower used the presidential yacht Williamsburg once early in his administration before ordering the vessel decommissioned in 1953. He was also not fond of Sequoia, a smaller presidential yacht. He was, after all, an army man. Shangri La, which was still operated as an extension of USS Sequoia when Ike took office, was also a perquisite with which he was less than enthralled at first, especially when he considered that his Gettysburg farm, which he purchased in 1950, was less than an hour’s drive away, and wasn’t crawling with sailors. Gradually though, the camp won him over, though not its name.
Ike found the name Shangri La distasteful, calling it “a bit too fancy” and renamed the presidential retreat Camp David, for both his father and grandson. He learned to use the camp to relax with family and friends and often grilled steaks for the entourage staying at the retreat with him. He used it for business too, conducting the first full cabinet meeting held at the facility, and hosting British Prime Minister Harold MacMillan, as well as Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, for both of whom he demonstrated his skill with a barbecue.
