United States Presidential vacations

United States Presidential vacations, or vacations taken by Presidents of the United States, have often been contentious.

History

Martha's Vineyard is one choice taken for location for vacation, since the time of Ulysses S. Grant, during 1874. Presidents who have taken a vacation there include Presidents John F. Kennedy, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama.[1][2]

• John Adams was criticized for spending time caring for his ailing wife.[3]
• James Garfield was shot while leaving Washington for his vacation.[4]
• 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.[5] During the 2007–2012 recession he was criticized for vacationing at Martha's Vineyard.[5][6]

• Donald J. 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.[7][8]

Known totals

Order	President	Term	Vacations	Days	Costs
45	Donald Trump	2017-2020	123	273[9]	$140m[10]
44	Barack Obama	2009-2017	29	328[11]	$96m[12]
43	George W. Bush	2001-2009	88	1,020[11]	$140m[13]
42	Bill Clinton	1993-2001	41	174[2] - 345[11]	$128m
41	George H. W. Bush	1989-1993		543[11]
40	Ronald Reagan	1981-1989		335[11] - 866[14]	[13]
39	Jimmy Carter	1977-1981		79[11]
38	Gerald Ford	1974-1977
37	Richard Nixon	1969-1974
36	Lyndon B. Johnson	1963-1969		484[15]
35	John F. Kennedy	1961-1963
34	Dwight D. Eisenhower	1953-1961		456[15]	[13]
33	Harry S. Truman	1945-1953		175[16]
32	Franklin D. Roosevelt	1933-1945		958[15]	[13]
31	Herbert Hoover	1929-1933		49	[13]
30	Calvin Coolidge	1923-1929
29	Warren G. Harding	1921-1923
28	Woodrow Wilson	1913-1921
27	William Howard Taft	1909-1913
26	Theodore Roosevelt	1901-1909
25	William McKinley	1897-1901
24	Grover Cleveland	1893-1897
23	Benjamin Harrison	1889-1893
22	Grover Cleveland	1885-1889
21	Chester A. Arthur	1881-1885
20	James A. Garfield	1881
19	Rutherford B. Hayes	1877-1881
18	Ulysses S. Grant	1869-1877
17	Andrew Johnson	1865-1869
16	Abraham Lincoln	1861-1865
15	James Buchanan	1857-1861
14	Franklin Pierce	1853-1857
13	Millard Fillmore	1850-1853
12	Zachary Taylor	1849-1850
11	James K. Polk	1845-1849
10	John Tyler	1841-1845
9	William Henry Harrison	1841	0	0	$0
8	Martin Van Buren	1837-1841
7	Andrew Jackson	1829-1837
6	John Quincy Adams	1825-1829
5	James Monroe	1817-1825
4	James Madison	1809-1817
3	Thomas Jefferson	1801-1809
2	John Adams	1797-1801
1	George Washington	1789-1797

Sources:[17][18]

References

1. B. Jasnoff (August 2016). The Clintons Were Here. So Were the Obamas. Boston Magazine. p. 41. Retrieved January 13, 2017.
2. C. Eugene Emery Jr. (2016-09-09). "Facts take a vacation in Occupy Democrats' post about presidential, congressional time off". Politifact.
3. "Criticism likely to follow Obama on upcoming vacation". CNN. August 23, 2010.
4. Rawlings, Nate (August 23, 2010). "Brief History: Presidential Vacations". Time magazine. Retrieved 2010-08-24. Not every vacation has been a welcome diversion. In 1881, James Garfield was shot while leaving Washington and died two...
5. "Obamas to begin sixth holiday of the year". The Daily Telegraph. August 18, 2010. Retrieved 2010-08-21. 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.
6. "Obama returns to Washington: Protecting healthcare law on the closing stretch agenda". Salon. Associated Press. 2017-01-02. Retrieved 2017-01-03.
7. Adam K. Raymond (22 May 2019). "The Taxpayer Tab for Trump's Golf Outings Tops $100 Million: Report". Intelligencer. Retrieved 22 May 2019.
8. S.V. Date (22 May 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 22 May 2019.
9. Bump, Philip. "Nearly a third of the days he's been president, Trump has visited a Trump-branded property". The Washington Post. The Washington Post. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
10. Germain, Sophie. "Cost Model". Trump Golf Count. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
11. Carolyn Kaster (2017-08-10). "Presidential vacations: Which commander in chief took the most time off?". Cleveland.com.
12. "Judicial Watch: New Obama Travel Costs Bring Eight-Year Total over $4 billion". Judicial Watch. 2016-12-29.
13. Lauren Victoria Burke (2013-03-27). "The Most Vacationing President in U.S. History: George W. Bush".
14. Dan Froomkin (2008-03-04). "The Vacation President". Washington Post.
15. Trudeau, Noah (2016). Lincoln's Greatest Journey: Sixteen Days that Changed a Presidency, March 24 – April 8, 1865. p. xi. ISBN 978-1611213263.
16. "Harry S Truman Little White House". National Park Service.
17. "Compared to past presidents, Obama takes few vacations". CBS News. 2014-12-22.
18. "Five myths about presidential vacations". Washington Post. 2014-08-15.

External links

• "Top Presidential Vacation Spots", The Washington Times