Utah visit leaves President Obama one state short of 50

By Darlene Superville, Associated Press

Thursday, April 2, 2015 | 9:42 p.m.

HILL AIR FORCE BASE, Utah — President Barack Obama made his first presidential visit to Utah on Thursday, leaving him one state short of touching down in all 50 while in office.

South Dakota is the only state he hasn't been to.

Obama arrived at Hill Air Force Base near Ogden, Utah, ahead of a Friday appearance at the military base to talk about clean energy and clean-energy jobs. He had visited Louisville, Kentucky, earlier Thursday.

Upon arrival at his hotel in Salt Lake City, Obama went straight into a meeting with top leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Among the Mormon church leaders he met with were President Henry Eyring, President Dieter Uchtdorf and Elders Tom Perry and Todd Christofferson, White House spokesman Eric Schultz said.

Schultz said Obama was pleased to meet with the church leaders as presidents before him have done.

They were expected to discuss the church's record of service, including its work on disaster relief and other humanitarian issues, and the need to overhaul the U.S. immigration system, Schultz said.

Obama began the year four states short of having visited all 50. The White House quickly scheduled trips to Idaho and South Carolina, two of the four, before the stop in Utah.

It's unclear how soon Obama will visit South Dakota. But with 21 months left on his term, he has plenty of time to get there.

Obama's last visit to Utah was a brief stop in Park City in 2007 when he was a candidate for president.