All Work and No Play: How Presidents Use Vacation Locations

Abstract

Every president needs time away from the White House. O’Brien looks at how presidents use their vacation residences throughout the country. Some administrations have official second residences while others spend vacations at a wide variety of different locales. Presidents, like Lyndon B. Johnson and George W. Bush use their private homes as places to meet foreign officials and give regular speeches. Beginning with Gerald Ford, most presidents began to engage in more structured vacation time instead of decamping the White House to other places around the country. Richard Nixon spent just under half of all the days of his presidency at Camp David or his California or Florida residences. Barack Obama barely spent any time on vacation with fewer days away than any other administration.