[SIZE+5] Bush Already Has Clinton Beat in Vacation Days [/SIZE] While the president of the United States is never completely on vacation, most commanders-in-chief manage to enjoy a respite from the daily grind during their stay the White House. George W. Bush seems to have taken this to the extreme early in his tenure as president. A humorous, fake resume for Bush suggests that he set the record for most days on vacation by any president in U.S. history -- a bit of an exaggeration, but still cause for some teasing. According to an August 2003 article in the Washington Post, President Bush has spent all or part of 166 days during his presidency at his Crawford, Texas, ranch or en route. Add the time spent at or en route to the presidential retreat of Camp David and at the Bush family estate in Kennebunkport, Maine, and Bush has taken 250 days off as of August 2003. That's 27% of his presidency spent on vacation. Although to be fair, much of this time is classified as a "working vacation." Bush isn't the first president to get away from his work. George Bush Sr. took all or part of 543 vacation days at Camp David and in Kennebunkport. Ronald Reagan spent 335 days at or en route to his Santa Barbara, California, ranch during his eight years in office. Of recent presidents, Jimmy Carter took the least days off -- only 79 days, which he usually spent at his home in Georgia. That's less than three weeks a year, which is closer to the average American's paid time off of 13 days per year. What about Clinton? As of December 1999, President Bill Clinton had spent only 152 days on holiday during his two terms, according to CBS News. A former staffer noted Clinton was such a workaholic that "it almost killed Clinton to take one-week vacations during August." In 2000, Clinton cut his summer vacation short to just three days, so he and his wife could concentrate on her Senate race and fundraising for Democrats. While we couldn't find the exact tally for Clinton's last year in office, it's reasonable to expect he didn't increase his vacation rate. And in barely three years in office, George W. Bush has already taken more vacation than Clinton did in seven years.
This is clearly a liberal conspiracy to smear President Bush. A truly unbiased article would have investigated and found that President Bush is a more efficient worker who can accomplish ten times more in a day than what Clinton could complete in a single term. Clearly, Bush's efficiency is due to his outstanding business experience as an oilman and managing partner of the Texas Rangers, to which President Clinton's career as a lifetime politician pales in comparison. I support our country, our President and our soldiers.
The daily show did a joke once that just killed me. Some massive news happened. I dont remember exactly what, and President bush said something to the effect of " we need to work hard, and pull together to get through this. I will not rest till this is resolved" yada yada yada. Then he left for a 3 week vacation. and they showed footage of him boarding his helicoptor to head to vacation
I guess you guys are under the impression that politicians need to be constantly working so the country doesn't go to hell. I completely disagree. I would rather have politicians stay out of our business as much as possible. Clinton was busy feeling our pain every day at the office, right?
Why would Clinton ever take a vacation? If I were spending my time at work getting serviced by an intern, I wouldn't leave to spend time alone with Hillary, either! I'll give Clinton credit for that much!
Look, I agree that Clinton totally SUCKED But you also have to admit that all of that 'vacation' time while Americans are losing their jobs and we're fighting wars is mighty unseemly at best. I imagine there is a lot of work taking place during these 'vacations', but I doubt it's as intense as it would be if he was in D.C.
I guess you guys think politicians keep this country running. Yeah right. What the hell do they do all day anyways? Sit around and talk to people, give speeches, look at polls, analyze possible legislation (which they don't actually write), try to get in front of the camera as much as possible. Do they do any actual work?
Well I don't think Clinton totally sucked. I'm just saying that politicians don't do much "work" anyways. Clinton was probably looking at polls and analyzing political strategy a lot of the time. I do think it is a bit unseemly while our troops are oversees though. That I don't like too much. I think Bush maybe should have cut his vacation a week or 2.
I believe the average person is quite intelligent and is capable of running his own life. I know, Americans are stupid and violent, and we are easily fooled, but somehow, I think we can get through the day without e-mailing our congressman and asking them what our schedule is for the day.
Are you arguing that the President has nothing to keep him busy? Guess it doesn't make a difference who gets elected then, eh? BTW, exactly how many federal agencies and cabinate positions report to the Executive branch? Hey, doesn't he handle some judiciary and ambassador appointments? I heard that he is even the Chief of the armed forces, is that true? He might even have a lot to do with foreign affairs and treaties, and reportedly, he can impact the economy through fiscal policy. Sounds like enough to keep me busy.
I admit that Bush probably spends more time outside of the White House then Clinton did. But stating the days at the Crawford Ranch does not equal vacation days. President Bush has met with many Foreign Leaders had many meetings at the Ranch. One point that I do like about Bush is the he places intelligent people around him and allows each to manage different areas. Clinton was (based on readings) a control freak and always wanted to make every decision and be in every spotlight.
You can pretty much delegate all that crap. Neith Dubya or Bill did any of that personally. Especially not reading some worthless reports from federal agencies. I bet most of their time is spend getting their agenda passed (political work, not actually writing it) and on foreign policy. I forgot who it was, but one President was frustrated that he had to spend more time on foreign policy than domestic policy. And Reagan took a lot of time off. Whether you agree or not, he was succesful politically, especially his first term.
Well you can delegate the research, but who sets the policy to direct subordinates' decisions ano who makes the serious decisions? Arguably, the leader of the free world has more serious decisions than any other person on the planet. Also, please don't measure the effectiveness of the President using the 'political' yardstick, else you will have to concede that Clinton was one of the best, and I don't believe that you want to go there.
I can't believe there are people defending Bush's record-setting vacations. C'mon, guys -- you can't be THAT blindly loyal to Bush. Admitting that Bush takes too many vacations isn't admitting that he is a crappy president. Couldn't you spin it instead to imply that Bush works *too* hard and burns himself out?
The best part is the reaction of the Bush supporters had Clinton taken this many vacation days. I'd have received e-mails detailing how his vacation days were used to coverup suicides, commit murders, and rape the townsfolk, all while Hilary took part in lesbian orgies. Of course, we're the haters though.
I can admit that Clinton was quite effective. He got the budget balanced under his watched, signed welfare reform, passed some tax increases, did a lot of environmental work, etc. But back to the main point- Bush is taking lots of vacation but still being quite effective.
