Presidential Vacation Days

[carlfense]

Do they matter? If so, when?

[BigRedBuster]

I really don't give a flying rip. Even when a President goes on vacation, he isn't on vacation. He still gets all of his security reports and updates from his cabinet.

 

I don't expect him to sit in the Oval Office Monday thru Friday 8-5.

 

I'm happy when some Presidents go on vacation because they aren't then trying to do something more.

[darkhorse85]

There's a reason you see a guy enter office with a nice head of hair and when their time is up it's all grey. They deserve some time away just like the rest of us.

[NUance]

Seems like Dubya spent about six months of his eight years clearing brush on his ranch down in Crawford, Texas. I pretty much got that activity worked out of my system when I was a kid on the farm.

[StPaulHusker]

The most meaningless aspect of the job to be scrutinized. Who really gives a sh#t?

[LukeinNE]

In terms of actual job performance, no, I don't think so.

 

In terms of "public leadership" (i.e. making it obvious that you're paying attention and care) it might matter a little. I'm assuming that this post is in reference to Obama's current vacation in the midst of Iraq, Ukraine, and all the rest. If I were his political adviser, I'd probably encourage him to postpone the trip, as it sort of looks bad. As a citizen, I couldn't care less. The president can run the country from just about anywhere, and I think most people understand that.

[BigRedBuster]

In terms of actual job performance, no, I don't think so.

 

In terms of "public leadership" (i.e. making it obvious that you're paying attention and care) it might matter a little. I'm assuming that this post is in reference to Obama's current vacation in the midst of Iraq, Ukraine, and all the rest. If I were his political adviser, I'd probably encourage him to postpone the trip, as it sort of looks bad. As a citizen, I couldn't care less. The president can run the country from just about anywhere, and I think most people understand that.

The only people who this matters to are people who want to make it an agenda point.

[BigRedBuster]

Seems like Dubya spent about six months of his eight years clearing brush on his ranch down in Crawford, Texas. I pretty much got that activity worked out of my system when I was a kid on the farm.

I'm just the opposite. When I've been stuck in my office all week and maybe had a bad week, I love getting out and doing this kind of stuff.

[carlfense]

 

Seems like Dubya spent about six months of his eight years clearing brush on his ranch down in Crawford, Texas. I pretty much got that activity worked out of my system when I was a kid on the farm.

I'm just the opposite. When I've been stuck in my office all week and maybe had a bad week, I love getting out and doing this kind of stuff.

 

Me too.

[Husker_x]

I'm a radical. I'm pro-vacation. The idea of having a person with the nuclear codes so fried he can't keep his eyes open sort of scares me. We're always in the midst of some crisis or other (unless you turn off your TV). I don't think you can point to a president's holiday where something wasn't blowing up somewhere. I would like to watch a president––any president––play nine holes. I wonder if he/she gets to have three practice swings in a row before getting interrupted by this or that advisor.

[BigRedBuster]

Oh...and what really drives me crazy are the political opposition that try to convince everyone...."The tax payer footed the bill to send them on a 30 billion dollar vacation."

 

 

 

 

 

Don't insult my intelligence.

[TGHusker]

 

Seems like Dubya spent about six months of his eight years clearing brush on his ranch down in Crawford, Texas. I pretty much got that activity worked out of my system when I was a kid on the farm.

I'm just the opposite. When I've been stuck in my office all week and maybe had a bad week, I love getting out and doing this kind of stuff.

 

Yep. agree. We all need cobweb cleaning time and if that means golf by one president or brush clearing by another - whatever floats their boat.

[sd'sker]

i do not know if this was brought up, but are they really vacations? or just, being somewhere other than the white house? i mean, do presidents get to really just leave work behind? especially now, when they can do whatever they want wherever they want, just about as effectively as they could in d.c.

[BigRedBuster]

i do not know if this was brought up, but are they really vacations? or just, being somewhere other than the white house? i mean, do presidents get to really just leave work behind? especially now, when they can do whatever they want wherever they want, just about as effectively as they could in d.c.

No. they still get all briefings they normally get keeping in touch with everything going on.

[tschu]

The only time I feel like presidential vacations are ever an issue is when a president is on vacation, a major event occurs, and they refuse to cut the vacation short. In all reality it may not change anything whatsoever, but it does seem pretty dumb to give the public a reason to point the finger. Just fly back to Washington and deal with the event; you can take another vacation later on. Other than that, it's whatever - president might be the hardest job in America and they're only human. I'm totally fine with GWB hanging out at the ranch or Obama relaxing at Martha's Vineyard or whatever.