United States presidential vacations

U.S. presidential vacations, or vacations taken by the presidents of the United States, have often been politically contentious.

History

Since the time of Ulysses S. Grant in 1874, Martha's Vineyard has been a popular vacation site for presidents. Presidents who have taken a vacation there include John F. Kennedy, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama.^[1]^[2]

The presidential vacations can be risky in terms of popularity and practical safety:

John Adams was criticized for spending time caring for his ailing wife.^[3]
The longest vacation by any United States president was James Madison. Madison was at the end of his presidency, when he took a four-month vacation from sometime during June 1816 until sometime during October 1816.^[4]
James Garfield was shot while leaving Washington for his vacation.^[5]
Theodore Roosevelt was criticized for leaving Washington for months at a time.^[3]
Franklin Roosevelt was criticized for spending time on his yacht.^[3]
George W. Bush was often criticized by Democrats for taking long vacations to his ranch in Crawford, Texas during the Iraq war.^[3]
Barack Obama's vacations have been scrutinized by the media.^[6] During the 2007–2012 recession he was criticized for vacationing at Martha's Vineyard.^[6]^[7]
Donald Trump: In May 2019 Trump was criticized for various expenses; such as, golf trips having cost taxpayers at least $102 million in extra travel and security expenses, trips to Florida having cost $81 million, his trips to New Jersey costing $17 million, his 2018 two days in Scotland costing at least $3 million, and $1 million for a trip to his resort in Los Angeles.^[8]^[9] During most of his presidency, he used the concept of "working-vacations" to justify most of his trips, especially after making remarks such as "I would not be a president who took vacations. I would not be a president that takes time off."^[10]
President Joe Biden: According to a CNN article dated October 17, 2022, "Biden has spent more than a quarter of his time working from his home state of Delaware, either at his house in Wilmington or his Rehoboth Beach property".^[11]

Known totals

Order	President	Term	Days	Total costs	Average days/yr
47	Donald Trump (second term)	2025–Incumbent	0	-	0
46	Joe Biden	2021–2025	532^[a]^[12]	-	133
45	Donald Trump (first term)	2017–2021	378^[13]	$144m^[14]	95
44	Barack Obama	2009–2017	328^[15]	$105m^[16]	41
43	George W. Bush	2001–2009	1,020^[15]	$140m^[17]	128
42	Bill Clinton	1993–2001	174^[2] – 345^[15]	$128m	22-43
41	George H. W. Bush	1989–1993	543^[15]	-	136
40	Ronald Reagan	1981–1989	335^[15] – 866^[18]	-	42-108
39	Jimmy Carter	1977–1981	79^[15]	-	20
38	Gerald Ford	1974–1977	-	-	-
37	Richard Nixon	1969–1974	-	-	-
36	Lyndon B. Johnson	1963–1969	484^[19]	-	81
35	John F. Kennedy	1961-1963	-	-	-
34	Dwight D. Eisenhower	1953-1961	456^[19]	-	57
33	Harry S. Truman	1945-1953	175^[20]	-	22
32	Franklin D. Roosevelt	1933–1945	958^[19]	-	80
31	Herbert Hoover	1929-1933	49	-	12

Sources:^[21]^[22]

Notes

^ The Republican National Committee claims 532 days, as of September 2024, but the primary source in media coverage is an RNC post on X.

References

^ B. Jasnoff (August 2016). The Clintons Were Here. So Were the Obamas. Boston Magazine. p. 41. Retrieved January 13, 2017.
^ ^a ^b C. Eugene Emery Jr. (September 9, 2016). "Facts take a vacation in Occupy Democrats' post about presidential, congressional time off". Politifact.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Criticism likely to follow Obama on upcoming vacation". CNN. August 23, 2010.
^ "Some Past Presidential Vacations". My Fox Spokane. August 24, 2010. Retrieved August 27, 2010. ^{[dead link‍]}
^ Rawlings, Nate (August 23, 2010). "Brief History: Presidential Vacations". Time magazine. Archived from the original on September 3, 2010. Retrieved August 24, 2010. Not every vacation has been a welcome diversion. In 1881, James Garfield was shot while leaving Washington and died two...
^ ^a ^b "Obamas to begin sixth holiday of the year". The Daily Telegraph. August 18, 2010. Archived from the original on August 20, 2010. Retrieved August 21, 2010. Mr Obama's holidays have been particularly scrutinized in the last year, as he has come under fire for his handling of the US economy as well as the Louisiana oil spill. ... He was questioned last year for choosing to stay on the elitist Martha's Vineyard during a severe recession, while in July he was criticized for taking his family to Maine rather than visit the Gulf of Mexico coast line. He subsequently took his family to Florida last weekend.
^ "Obama returns to Washington: Protecting healthcare law on the closing stretch agenda". Salon. Associated Press. January 2, 2017. Retrieved January 3, 2017.
^ Adam K. Raymond (May 22, 2019). "The Taxpayer Tab for Trump's Golf Outings Tops $100 Million: Report". Intelligencer. Retrieved May 22, 2019.
^ S.V. Date (May 22, 2019). "Trump's Golf Costs: $102 Million And Counting, With Taxpayers Picking Up The Tab; Trump promised never to golf. Instead, he's spent more than twice as many days golfing as Obama at the same point, costing taxpayers over three times as much". huffpost.com. Retrieved May 22, 2019.
^ "Trump-O-Meter: | PolitiFact". www.politifact.com. Retrieved January 24, 2021.
^ Bennett, Kate (October 17, 2022). "Biden has spent more than a fourth of his presidency working from Delaware, outpacing Trump's regular trips away". CNN. Retrieved December 29, 2023.
^ Rau, Courtney; McIntire, Konner (September 5, 2023). "Fact Check Team: Comparing President Biden's vacation time in comparison to predecessors". Keye. Retrieved October 23, 2023.
^ Johnstone, Liz (October 22, 2019). "Tracking President Trump's visits to Trump properties". NBC News. NBC. Retrieved October 19, 2020.
^ Germain, Sophie. "Cost Model". Trump Golf Count. Retrieved July 6, 2020.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Carolyn Kaster (August 10, 2017). "Presidential vacations: Which commander in chief took the most time off?". Cleveland.com.
^ "Judicial Watch: Obama Travel Cost Now $105,662,975.27". Judicial Watch. September 14, 2017.
^ Lauren Victoria Burke (March 27, 2013). "The Most Vacationing President in U.S. History: George W. Bush".
^ Dan Froomkin (March 4, 2008). "The Vacation President". Washington Post.
^ ^a ^b ^c Trudeau, Noah (2016). Lincoln's Greatest Journey: Sixteen Days that Changed a Presidency, March 24 – April 8, 1865. Savas Beatie. p. xi. ISBN 978-1611213263.
^ "Harry S Truman Little White House". National Park Service.
^ "Compared to past presidents, Obama takes few vacations". CBS News. December 22, 2014.
^ "Five myths about presidential vacations". Washington Post. August 15, 2014.

External links

"Top Presidential Vacation Spots", The Washington Times

[12] The Republican National Committee claims 532 days, as of September 2024, but the primary source in media coverage is an RNC post on X.

[Brittany_Jasnoff-1] B. Jasnoff (August 2016). The Clintons Were Here. So Were the Obamas. Boston Magazine. p. 41. Retrieved January 13, 2017.

[:0-2] C. Eugene Emery Jr. (September 9, 2016). "Facts take a vacation in Occupy Democrats' post about presidential, congressional time off". Politifact.

[CNN-3] "Criticism likely to follow Obama on upcoming vacation". CNN. August 23, 2010.

[4] "Some Past Presidential Vacations". My Fox Spokane. August 24, 2010. Retrieved August 27, 2010. ^{[dead link‍]}

[time-5] Rawlings, Nate (August 23, 2010). "Brief History: Presidential Vacations". Time magazine. Archived from the original on September 3, 2010. Retrieved August 24, 2010. Not every vacation has been a welcome diversion. In 1881, James Garfield was shot while leaving Washington and died two...

[sixth-6] "Obamas to begin sixth holiday of the year". The Daily Telegraph. August 18, 2010. Archived from the original on August 20, 2010. Retrieved August 21, 2010. Mr Obama's holidays have been particularly scrutinized in the last year, as he has come under fire for his handling of the US economy as well as the Louisiana oil spill. ... He was questioned last year for choosing to stay on the elitist Martha's Vineyard during a severe recession, while in July he was criticized for taking his family to Maine rather than visit the Gulf of Mexico coast line. He subsequently took his family to Florida last weekend.

[7] "Obama returns to Washington: Protecting healthcare law on the closing stretch agenda". Salon. Associated Press. January 2, 2017. Retrieved January 3, 2017.

[8] Adam K. Raymond (May 22, 2019). "The Taxpayer Tab for Trump's Golf Outings Tops $100 Million: Report". Intelligencer. Retrieved May 22, 2019.

[9] S.V. Date (May 22, 2019). "Trump's Golf Costs: $102 Million And Counting, With Taxpayers Picking Up The Tab; Trump promised never to golf. Instead, he's spent more than twice as many days golfing as Obama at the same point, costing taxpayers over three times as much". huffpost.com. Retrieved May 22, 2019.

[10] "Trump-O-Meter: | PolitiFact". www.politifact.com. Retrieved January 24, 2021.

[11] Bennett, Kate (October 17, 2022). "Biden has spent more than a fourth of his presidency working from Delaware, outpacing Trump's regular trips away". CNN. Retrieved December 29, 2023.

[13] Rau, Courtney; McIntire, Konner (September 5, 2023). "Fact Check Team: Comparing President Biden's vacation time in comparison to predecessors". Keye. Retrieved October 23, 2023.

[14] Johnstone, Liz (October 22, 2019). "Tracking President Trump's visits to Trump properties". NBC News. NBC. Retrieved October 19, 2020.

[Trump_Burns_Millions_of_Taxpayer_Dollars_on_Extravagant_Vacations-15] Germain, Sophie. "Cost Model". Trump Golf Count. Retrieved July 6, 2020.

[cle-16] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Carolyn Kaster (August 10, 2017). "Presidential vacations: Which commander in chief took the most time off?". Cleveland.com.

[17] "Judicial Watch: Obama Travel Cost Now $105,662,975.27". Judicial Watch. September 14, 2017.

[LVBurke-18] Lauren Victoria Burke (March 27, 2013). "The Most Vacationing President in U.S. History: George W. Bush".

[whw-19] Dan Froomkin (March 4, 2008). "The Vacation President". Washington Post.

[trun-20] Trudeau, Noah (2016). Lincoln's Greatest Journey: Sixteen Days that Changed a Presidency, March 24 – April 8, 1865. Savas Beatie. p. xi. ISBN 978-1611213263.

[hstlwh-21] "Harry S Truman Little White House". National Park Service.

[22] "Compared to past presidents, Obama takes few vacations". CBS News. December 22, 2014.

[23] "Five myths about presidential vacations". Washington Post. August 15, 2014.

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