United States presidential vacations

United States presidential vacations, or vacations taken by the presidents of the United States, have often been 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: After 21 months into his term, President Biden is reported to have spent over 25-40 percent of his time away from Washington, being either at his house in Wilmington, Delaware or at his Rehoboth Beach property, totaling all or part of 174 days as of Sunday, October 16, 2022.^[11]

Known totals

Order	President	Term	Days	Total costs	Average days/yr
46	Joe Biden	2021–Incumbent	256 - 382 ^[12]	-	147 (as of Sept 2023)
45	Donald Trump	2017–2021	381^[13]	$144m^[14]	92
44	Barack Obama	2009–2017	328^[15]	$105m^[16]	41
43	George W. Bush	2001–2009	1020^[15]	$140m^[17]	127
42	Bill Clinton	1993–2001	174^[2] – 345^[15]	$128m	22
41	George H. W. Bush	1989–1993	543^[15]	-	136
40	Ronald Reagan	1981–1989	335^[15] – 866^[18]	-	42
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]	-	94
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]

References

External links

"Top Presidential Vacation Spots", The Washington Times

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]

[15]

[16]

[17]

[18]

[19]

[20]

[21]

[22]

Search

United States presidential vacations

Contents

History

Known totals

References

External links