Camp David

When the US president goes anywhere, the security involved is a logistics nightmare involving hundreds of people. You deal with that when there's a diplomatic reason for travel, but when the Commander in Chief needs a weekend to relax and refresh or a summer vacation, it's a lot easier to have a spot already in place with permanent security. Security is important, but that spot has to be nice enough so that the president will want to stay there. That's how Camp David was born in the 1930s. The facility is also perfect for hosting meetings with other heads of state for the same reasons, especially for extended meetings like peace talks. Half as Interesting explains the history of Camp David, plus the measures taken to keep it feeling like a luxury resort to its guests while maintaining security that makes a supermax prison look weak. It's a delicate balancing act, but someone's gotta do it.