Tag Archives: presidential vacations

Now that we’re talking about presidential vacations …

Presidential vacations usually aren’t the stuff of water-cooler tittering, unless the president is a blowhard who brags about “never” taking them, only to bail from the White House for 17 days.

Donald John Trump Sr. is spending two-plus weeks away from the office at the “dump” where he and his wife and son reside. He’s playing some golf in Bedminster, N.J. — and doing some presidential duties.

The subject of vacation destinations, though, does become a bit of a media issue from time to time, depending on the destination itself.

Barack H. Obama was fond of vacationing at Martha’s Vineyard, Mass., during the summer; then he would jet to his hometown of Honolulu for his annual Christmas vacation. The media loved covering the president while he was on vacation.

Bill Clinton also enjoyed Martha’s Vineyard. George H.W. Bush had his family estate on the Atlantic shore in Kennebunkport, Maine. Ronald Reagan spent quality time at his Rancho del Cielo, just outside of Santa Barbara, Calif. Jimmy Carter would go back to Plains, Ga. Gerald Ford had his digs in Palm Springs, Calif. Richard Nixon enjoyed time away at San Clemente, Calif.

I skipped mentioning George W. Bush’s vacation spot for a reason. I want to discuss it briefly here.

President Bush was fond of going to Crawford, Texas, during the heat of the summer. It gets really hot in Central Texas, man! He has a ranch there and he’d venture onto the Back Forty to “clear brush” and perform assorted chores around the place. He found it invigorating and relaxing.

The White House media corps assigned to cover the president routinely reported on the miserable weather conditions in Crawford. One didn’t hear such gripes from the media when they covered presidential getaways at, say, The Vineyard, Waikiki or the rocky Maine coast.

This is worth mentioning, I suppose, in the wake of Donald Trump’s constant yammering about President Obama’s vacations and the now-debunked notion that the current president wouldn’t be taking vacations. He would be too hard at work trying to “make America great again.”

Just as media coverage of G.W. Bush’s vacations centered heavily on the Central Texas heat and the misery of reporters assigned to cover the president, I reckon the current president’s vacation coverage will center on just how much actual work is being done while he’s relaxing with his golf buddies.

If only Trump weren’t so critical of others

I am a bit reluctant to say anything critical about Donald J. Trump taking a vacation.

He’s the president of the United States. He’s never “off the clock.” He travels with a personal aide who carries the nuclear launch codes. His family is protected 24/7 by Secret Service agents. The president is merely a phone call away from being briefed on any crisis that erupts without warning. He’s got stay on his toes at all times. Be nimble. Be ready to react and respond.

The president is never not the president, even when he is relaxing with his family and friends.

I’ve defended presidents of both parties for as long as I can remember over criticism of their vacations.

Then again …

This president has popped off incessantly about vacations. He tweeted something critical in 2011 about President Barack Obama taking time off from the rigors of his office. Trump stated via Twitter: “@BarackObama played golf yesterday. Now he heads to a 10 day vacation in Martha’s Vineyard. Nice work ethic.”

Sheesh, man!

He has said publicly that successful businessmen and women don’t need vacations. Their work should be their relaxation, he has said.

However, he’s taken plenty of time away from the office during his still-brief time as president. Much of that time has been spent at his Florida resort and at his club in New Jersey.

As The Associated Press reported: “Don’t take vacations. What’s the point? If you’re not enjoying your work, you’re in the wrong job,” Trump wrote in his 2004 book, “Trump: Think Like a Billionaire.”

Read the AP story here.

So he’s going to flout his own advice. He’s going to fly to his private golf club in New Jersey for 17 days. It’s a good thing, too.

Repair crews are going to fix the heating and air conditioning system at “the dump” where he lives during the week, meaning the White House.

POTUS, FLOTUS and kids take time off

2015-04-15-1429074557-4314458-president_vacations

A young Amarillo businessman — a friend of mine — griped recently that the Obama family would be jetting off to Hawaii for a little Christmas R&R.

It’s a tradition the president and first lady have followed since they moved into the White House in January 2009.

My friend seems to think that since the president is the lamest of ducks — with less than a month to go before he leaves office — he doesn’t need a vacation.

Actually, he does.

This brings up a point I want to make about presidential vacations … which is that they don’t really take vacations the way I — or my young friend, for that matter — understand the meaning of the word.

Presidents are never off the clock. They are accompanied by that military officer who’s carrying “The Football,” aka the briefcase containing the nuclear codes; the president gets his daily national security briefing; he is on-call 24/7.

I wrote about the Obamas’ vacation in a blog post two years ago:

https://highplainsblogger.com/2014/12/vacation-for-first-family-potus-will-need-the-rest/

I don’t begrudge presidents from taking time away from the office.

You may choose to believe or disbelieve my next point, but I’ll make it nonetheless. I won’t begrudge the next president and his family from taking time away.

Donald Trump will need some time away — presuming, of course that he works as hard at being president as his predecessors have done. Despite what my friend asserted the other day, Obama has worked his tail off, as did Presidents Bush 43, Clinton, Bush 41, Reagan, Carter, Ford, Nixon, Johnson, Kennedy, Eisenhower, Truman, Roosevelt … I’ll stop there.

They all faced crises and conflict. They need time to chill, to collect their thoughts, to spend time with their spouses and kids.

They are not out of touch or out of reach.

So, with that I say to the current president and his beautiful family: Surf’s up, enjoy yourselves … but keep the phone nearby. We might need you, Mr. President, in a pinch.

Presidential ‘vacations’ … don’t occur

vacations-retreats-10-A

Barack Obama is back at his post in the Oval Office.

He’s making decisions, doing things that presidents do during the course of their regular work day.

Welcome back to the People’s House, Mr. President. But I am not going to ding you for spending some time away from the place with your wife and daughters.

Presidents don’t take “vacations” the way you and I do. They do not “get away from it all.” The “all” follows them wherever they do. The guy with the “football” — the briefcase containing the nuclear launch codes — is never more than a few yards from the commander in chief. The president gets national security and domestic issue briefings daily. He’s never off the clock.

Now, I say this having already said that the president needed to go to Louisiana to tour the horrific flood damage. He could have taken a day from his “vacation” to hug some folks in trouble.

He chose not to do that, going instead to Louisiana after returning to the White House. Well, no harm done.

All this yammering about the president’s “vacation” ignores the point I’ve tried to make here. I’ve never — ever — made presidential vacations an issue. President George W. Bush spent many more days away from the White House than his successor. Big deal, man! President Bush had the same security briefings while he was cutting brush at his Central Texas ranch. Same with Presidents Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush and Ronald Reagan.

So, let’s stop carping about presidential “vacations.”

They don’t exist the way you and I experience them. That’s because the president of the United States occupies the most demanding job on the planet.

Vacation for first family; POTUS will need the rest

President Obama has jetted off to his home state of Hawaii for some R&R with his family.

I’ll be interested now for the next several days whether we’re going to hear any carping about the golf being played, or whether the first lady is spending a lot of money on shopping excursions, or whether the first daughters are behaving themselves.

This kind of carping goes with the territory, I guess, and I am hoping that now — six years into the job — that the president and his family have grown used to it.

Social media being what they are, criticism hits cyberspace in swarms. It’s immediate, quite often mistaken and misplaced and also quite cruel.

I recall a couple of other notable presidents who’d take lengthy vacations.

* President Ronald Reagan would get holed up in his ranch near Santa Barbara, Calif., uttering hardly a peep in public. He’d come back down from his Rancho del Cielo refreshed and ready to take on the challenges of the day. You’d hear the occasional gripes from the media about the president’s lengthy hiatus, but hardly none of the nitpicking one hears today.

* President George W. Bush liked to “clear brush” at his own ranch in Central Texas, near Crawford — which is near Waco. Again, the media would gripe about that time off, although my hunch is that they disliked hanging out in rural Texas, which I’m guessing lacks some of the creature comforts to which those big-city media hounds had grown accustomed.

In both instances — and regarding vacations other presidents have taken — such criticism is unfounded and ridiculous.

Barack Obama doesn’t have any planned public events while he’s enjoying Christmas with his clan in Hawaii. He’ll get his usual daily national security briefings and updates on other matters way back east in Washington.

For now, enjoy your time in the sunshine, Mr. President. A new Congress controlled by the “other party” awaits you when you return for the home stretch of your time in office. You’ll need all the rest you can get.

 

Golf game = bad optics

Here are a couple of thoughts about President Obama’s seeming lack of awareness of how image matters in modern American politics.

He stood before the nation the other day and delivered a heartfelt condemnation of ISIL’s beheading of American journalist James Foley. He is angry, disgusted to the core and he vowed to bring the killers to justice.

http://www.politico.com/story/2014/08/schultz-golf-helps-obama-clear-mind-110269.html?hp=l14

Then he went out and played a round of golf at Martha’s Vineyard, where he is vacationing with his family.

Critics have pounded the president even for taking a vacation during this international crisis. Some commentators on Fox News Channel have criticized Obama for wearing an open-collar shirt as he was speaking to the nation about the hideous act.

That criticism is ridiculous on its face.

What’s not ridiculous, though, has come from those who wonder whether President Obama really gets the value of visual images. Juxtaposing photos of him playing golf immediately after delivering remarks about the gruesome death of an American at the hands of a hideous terrorist organization, well, just doesn’t look good.

The White House defended the president’s decision to tee it up after the remarks. The press spokesman said the activity “clears the mind.” I believe it does. I’ve noted before that presidents never are off the clock while they are on vacation.

But, good grief, Mr. President. If you want to keep your head clear and think about how you can stay sharp, hug your beautiful family — and be sure to have the White House press pool photographers on hand to send that image around the world.

Obama vacations … so what?

Here we go again.

The media are trying to assess the meaning of President Obama’s vacation.

This is a farce.

http://news.yahoo.com/obama-s-vacations-and-golf-outings–by-the-numbers-211532262.html

The worst part of it from my standpoint comes from the critics who lampoon the president for daring to take a vacation while the world is exploding all over creation.

Give me a bleeping break.

As the link attached here notes, presidents always have taken vacations. They need time away from the Oval Office. It compares the number and length of vacations taken by Obama and his immediate predecessor, George W. Bush.

Bush comes out on top in both categories. Yes, he had his liberal critics who dinged him for vacationing while he was prosecuting a war in Iraq. The president didn’t help himself much with that (in)famous quote inviting reporters to “now watch my drive” while commenting on a crisis as he was playing a round of golf.

But hey, all is forgiven.

For my money, I’d prefer the president — whoever he is — take time away. Get refreshed. Clear your head. Hug the wife and kids. Exchange in a little banter with friends.

And oh yes. Receive those daily national security and domestic policy briefings — which every president always gets, even while he is on “vacation.”

So let’s stop this petty second-guessing. Let the president of the United States enjoy some time with his family.

Remember, too, he ain’t off the clock. Not ever.

Hey, Congress … slackers!

A friend reminds me of one more laughable element related to Congress bailing without approving a refugee-crisis-repair bill.

It is that Republican critics of President Obama have been so very fond of blasting him for “all the vacations” he takes while crises are erupting.

They fail, of course, to acknowledge that the president never is off the clock. He’s away from the Oval Office or a week or two, then he’s back — with the goal of tending to business. That has been the case dating back for many decades, involving presidents of both political parties.

So, what about Congress?

Well, those fine ladies and gents are going to campaign for re-election, which means they’ll be out raising money; some of them are known to jet off to faraway places for what they call “fact finding missions.” Some of those “trouble spots” involve a variety of choice beachfront condos, mountaintop vistas, lots of exotic meals.

You get my drift here, yes?

This will be my final point on this subject before I move on, but I’ll just say once more with feeling.

The border crisis involving the young people fleeing their home countries for safety in the United States was billed as a national crisis. If it’s a national crisis, then why didn’t the House and Senate stay in session until dealing with it?

I guess they had more important things to do.

http://www.politico.com/story/2014/08/house-gop-pass-border-bill-109662.html?hp=l1

One final bit of advice: Next time the president of the United States takes some time away from the office, I want his critics in Congress — and in the conservative media — to keep their collective traps shut.

POTUS never off the clock

Wait for it. The critics are sure to climb all over this one: President Obama is going to raise money for Democratic Senate candidate while he’s vacationing with his family at Martha’s Vineyard, Mass.

They’ll raise a serious ruckus about (a) the president taking a vacation at all and (b) taking part in political fundraisers while the world is exploding all around us.

http://www.politico.com/story/2014/07/obama-fundraiser-marthas-vineyard-109346.html?hp=r14

I’ll make this point until I run out of proverbial breath: Presidents of the United States are never — ever — off the clock. They are entitled some time away from the Oval Office with their family.

Does that mean they’re shutting themselves off from the world? Hardly. They get national security briefings daily. They are told immediately when crises erupt. They are able to talk immediately to any world leader of American politician as events warrant. They aren’t sealed away in a vacuum chamber.

As for the fundraising part, well, I need to remind y’all that Republican politicians will take part in these kinds of activities as well when they take their summer break. Presidents and lawmakers do share a common theme: They’re all politicians, which by definition compels them to raise money for other politicians. It goes with the territory.

And just so we’re clear, I’m not sticking up for this president because I happen to agree with most of his policies. I’ve said many times over many years about many presidents of both political parties that they deserve time away.

And so damn what if they raise money? That’s part of the job as well.

President’s Christmas vacation draws barbs … again

I think I can hear the faint sounds of rhetorical sniper fire coming from the right yet again over President Obama’s 17-day Christmas vacation.

Some of it could be heard around Amarillo, from a couple of my social media friends who just cannot understand how the president can spend 17 whole days vacationing in Hawaii while the rest of the nation is hard at work. These are tough times, you know, and Barack Obama needs to keep his shoulder to the wheel, according to my friends.

I am quite certain some of the well-known right-wing radio and TV talk blowhards will weigh in soon enough on this.

I’ll remind them yet again of an obvious fact of political life.

It is that the president of the United States is never not the president. He’s never off the clock. He’s never out of touch. He’s never not in command. He gets his daily national security briefings on vacation as regularly as he gets them in the Situation Room at the White House, or on Air Force One, or whether he’s in some foreign capital visiting with a fellow head of state.

One of my pals here did have the good sense to remind the critics that even though he is no fan of the current president, “All presidents do this. Geez!”

Presidents George W. and George H.W. Bush took vacations. W was fond of going to his ranch in Crawford; Daddy Bush sped around off the Maine coast in his speedboat. President Reagan took extended vacations at his beloved Rancho Del Cielo in southern Californai. President Clinton would jet off to Cape Cod, Mass., to hob-knob with the beautiful people. President Carter retreated to his peanut plantation in Georgia, President Ford teed it up at Palm Springs, Calif., President Nixon high-tailed it to San Clemente, Calif., or Key Biscayne, Fla. President Johnson had his ranch in the Hill Country. President Kennedy had his family compound in Massachusetts. President Eisenhower played golf at Gettysburg, Pa.

And on and on it goes.

Enjoy your time with your family, Mr. President.

See you when you get back.