Paul Giorgio: Presidential Vacations
Wednesday, August 13, 2014
Summertime is also the time when everyone flees equatorial Washington, D.C. in August. Congress is gone for 5 weeks and the Supreme Court left a month ago. So, on Saturday, President Obama and his family began their annual summer sojourn to Martha’s Vineyard. The Vineyard has been a favorite vacation place for the last two Democratic presidents.
No sooner had President Obama announced that he was going on vacation than the criticism began. The criticism went something like this, “How can he leave Washington while we are bombing Iraq!?” And, “he is sending the wrong message.”
There is never a good time for a President to go on vacation. But I believe that we can all agree that they deserve one and need one. We all do.
In terms of Presidential Vacation takers, it seems that Republican President’s take many more vacations than their Democratic counterparts. For example, George H.W. Bush leads the recent pack with 400 vacation days logged, followed by Ronald Reagan with 349, then George W. Bush with 297. Bill Clinton only took 174 days during his eight years in office and up until this past year; President Obama has only taken 96 days.
Working Vacation
As we saw in President Obama’s press conference Monday on Iraq, most presidents take what we call working vacations. They don’t just shut down the office. President Obama receives his national security briefing every morning whether he is at the White House or the Vineyard. Also the “summer White House” is equipped with all the latest communications equipment, so the President is never out of touch. I am sure that even the golf course is equipped with a secure telephone.
If there is one criticism that can be made about a presidential vacation, it is that they do not travel lightly. When I was a Lead Advance person for President Clinton and Vice President Gore, I was assigned to work on President Clinton’s first vacation and that was to Martha’s Vineyard. Traveling to an island does create some logistical problems.
Even on vacation, a president travels with about 50 staff people; plus advance staff, press staff, secret service, and communications specialist etc. There is also a large press corps that goes along to record any presidential activity. All these people have to eat and sleep somewhere. This is what creates the economic boom. Houses are rented to put up the staff, hotel rooms are rented, not all of them are on the Vineyard; Cape Cod enjoys some spinoff from the visit also
What Presidents Do on Vacation
What do presidents do on vacation? I can speak about some things that Bill Clinton did. He read a great deal for the first few days and decompressed; he did not leave the house. The next few days were different. He played golf. I was assigned to go with him, basically staying out of the way of his bad drives. So I, along with the lead site Secret Service agent, drove along in a golf cart with the President’s foursome.
President Clinton also went out to eat at night a few times while I was there. One Saturday night, he opted to go to the Black Dog, a pretty well know restaurant on the island. You really cannot tell the restaurant that the President is coming, so a Secret service agent and I went ahead and got a table. We sat there on a Saturday night for about 45 minutes drinking soda. I could see the owner getting angry -the place was packed with a long line outside. But all anger faded as I got up and gave my seat to the President. As the president ate, a large crowd gathered outside. My job was to manage the crowd. I also took the time to make sure anyone from Worcester was in the front row and got a handshake.
On a couple of other occasions, the President ventured out to have dinner with friends. One evening, Jackie Onassis threw a party in his honor and it was strictly A –list - plus me. The largest public event the President attended was the County Fair with his daughter, Chelsea. A near riot broke out when people realized Bill Clinton was there. The outing was cut short, the Secret Service feared for the President’s safety from the very enthusiastic crowd.
I am sure President Obama will follow the same routine. He will read and relax, play some golf, go for a bike ride with his daughters and go out to dinner.
Presidential vacations are just like the vacations everyone else takes, only a few hundred more people are tagging along.
Related Slideshow: Reaction to President Obama’s Worcester Visit
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