Which U.S. President was the first to host an official papal visit to the White House?

The first U.S. President to host an official papal visit at the White House was Jimmy Carter. In 1979, Pope John Paul II (1920-2005) became the first pontiff to visit a sitting U.S. president at the White House. Pope John Paul II was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his death in 2005. John Paul II is recognized as helping to end Communist rule in his native Poland and the rest of Europe.

James Earl Carter Jr. (born 1924) is an American politician and philanthropist who served as the 39th president of the United Sates from 1977 to 1981. He is a member of the Democratic Party, previously having served as the Georgia State Senator from 1963 to 1967 and as the 76th governor of Georgia form 1971 to 1975.

Since leaving the presidency, Carter has remained engaged in political and social projects as a private citizen, In 2002, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his work in co-founding the Carter Center, a nongovernmental , not-for-profit organization founded in 1982 and dedicated to the advancement of human rights and to alleviate human suffering.