VOICE OVER:PRESIDENTS, PRIME MINISTERS AND WORLD LEADERS HAVE MADE THE TREK TO THE MOUNTAINS 70 MILES NORTH-WEST OF WASHINGTON, DC, AT THE INVITATION OF AMERICAN PRESIDENTS.ALLIES PAID VISITS _ BRITISH PRIME MINISTERS FROM WINSTON CHURCHILL AND MARGARET THATCHER (SOT: Margaret Thatcher, British Prime Minister)"... Able to divide the United Kingdom from the United States ..."TO TONY BLAIR.(SOT: Tony Blair, British Prime Minister)"Excellent."OVER THE PAST 70 YEARS, HIGH PROFILE MEETINGS WERE LARGELY HELD AWAY FROM PUBLIC VIEW AND, POLICY DEBATES WERE MIXED WITH PERSONAL DIPLOMACY.(SOT: Norman Ornstein, Political Analyst)"There is no substitute for face to face meetings, getting to know people and even making assessments of them, whether this is someone you can trust, seeing what the strengths and weaknesses are."EVERY U.S. PRESIDENT SINCE FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT HAS MADE USE OF THE MOUNTAIN-TOP CAMP AFTER IT WAS CONVERTED FROM A FEDERAL EMPLOYEE CAMP DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR.(SOT: Mel Poole, Catoctin Mountain Park Superintendent) "When the war started, Secret Service was concerned about President Roosevelt being on his yacht in the Potomac and they were looking for a land based location in the mountains. Camp Hi-Catoctin here at Catoctin Mountain Park was chosen and then early after President Roosevelt moved in, he changed the named to Shangri-la."PRESIDENT DWIGHT EISENHOWER DECIDED SHANGRI-LA WAS TOO FANCY FOR A 'FARM BOY' AND RENAMED IT 'CAMP DAVID' AFTER HIS FATHER AND GRANDSON.DURING EISENHOWER'S TERM, SOVIET LEADER NIKITA KHRUSHCHEV VISITED AND LATER PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY CONFERRED WITH EISENHOWER DURING THE CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS.IN 1978, PRESIDENT JIMMY CARTER BROKERED A PEACE AGREEMENT BETWEEN EGYPTIAN PRESIDENT ANWAR AL-SADAT AND ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER MENACHEM BEGIN.THE KENNEDYS WERE FREQUENT VISITORS AND RONALD REAGAN SPENT MORE TIME AT CAMP DAVID THAN ANY OTHER PRESIDENT TO DATE - EARNING HIM A PLACE CLOSE IN THE HEARTS OF LOCAL RESIDENTS.(SOT: Vickie Grinder, General Manager, Cozy Inn SOT 085902)"Polled the most favorite president of all, spent a recorded 585 days at Camp David. He loved Camp David. We are a big fan at Cozy of Ronald Reagan." LOCALS HAVE GOTTEN USE TO WORLD VISITORS STOPPING TO PAY A VISIT TO THEIR NEIGHBOR.(SOT: John Fieseler, Executive Director, Tourism Council of Frederick County)"The folks in the northern part of the county, in Thurmont kind of respect the fact that this is a place for the president to get out of the bubble of Washington, DC, and so it has been pretty low-key over the years."UNLIKE LAST YEAR'S G8 SUMMIT IN PARIS, THERE WILL BE LESS RED CARPET AND MORE GREEN TREES EVIDENT AS THE G8 SUMMIT GETS UNDERWAY.TRACY BROWN,ASSOCIATED PRESS