Presidential Vacation Timeline

On Tuesday, August 2, the Washington Post ran a piece entitled "Vacationing Bush Poised to Set a Record," that starts this way:

President Bush is getting the kind of break most Americans can only dream of -- nearly five weeks away from the office, loaded with vacation time.

The president departed Tuesday for his longest stretch yet away from the White House, arriving at his Crawford ranch in the evening for a stretch of clearing brush, visiting with family and friends, and tending to some outside-the-Beltway politics. By historical standards, it is the longest presidential retreat in at least 36 years.

This piece annoyed and irritated me. The President, I pointed out, doesn't really get to "vacation." He's getting daily briefings, he's always in charge, he's always responsible. There is, effectively, no vacation during the term of office.

So I've decided to timeline this "vacation," to see whether it would qualify as "the kind of break most Americans can only dream of..." I'll be updating and bumping this daily for the next several weeks.

• Tuesday, August 2 - The President's last day in Washington, as he prepares to go on "vacation" to his ranch in Texas.


• Wednesday, August 3 - "On Wednesday, August 3, 2005, President George W. Bush addressed members of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) at their 32nd Annual Meeting in Grapevine, Texas."


• Thursday, August 4 - "President Bush gave Colombia President Alvaro Uribe a hearty handshake and several pats on the back as he welcomed him to his Texas ranch on Thursday...Drug trafficking, terrorism and trade topped the agenda for the meeting at the ranch..."


• Saturday, August 6 - "President Bush is taking a quick break from vacationing at his Texas ranch to stir up enthusiasm about the economy...'Our economy is strong, yet I will not be satisfied until every American who wants to work can find a job,' Bush said Saturday in his weekly radio address, taped at the ranch where he'll meet with his economic team on Tuesday."


• Monday, August 8 - "As crude oil prices hit a new high Monday, President Bush signed a bill that will give billions in tax breaks to encourage homegrown energy production but won't quickly reduce high gasoline prices or the nation's dependence on foreign oil..."This bill is not going to solve our energy challenges overnight," Bush said in a speech shortly before he signed the 1,724-page bill at the Sandia National Laboratories. ...Before signing the bill, Bush toured the Energy Department's national solar thermal test facility, which was built in 1976 in response to the oil embargo and energy crisis. Bush walked in a field of mirrored solar panels, wearing shirt sleeves and sunglasses to ward off the bright midday sun...Bush traveled from his Texas ranch to sign the bill in the home state of Republican Sen. Pete Domenici, the chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Domenici was the driving force in ending a four-year standoff in Congress and getting the measure passed with bipartisan support last month."


• Tuesday, August 9 - "Bush, Economic Team Gather at Texas Ranch - President Bush, upbeat about reports showing steady economic growth, is mapping out a fall agenda that includes reviving the debate over Social Security and pushing to overhaul the nation's tax code."
  
  Also on Tuesday,
  • Bush spoke to reporters on foreign policy issues: "Bush said he got word Tuesday that the newly elected president of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, said he is willing to negotiate with other nations amid concerns that his country is developing nuclear weapons.
    
    'Just as I was walking here, I received word that the new president said he was willing to get back to the table,' Bush told reporters at his Texas ranch."
  
  
  • Appointed Zell Miller to a seat on the American Battle Monuments Commission
  
  
  • named Eric S. Edelman to be undersecretary of defense for policy


• Wednesday, August 10 - Traveled to Illinois to sign the transportation bill into law.


• Thursday, August 11 - Met with members of his foreign policy and national defense teams, and spoke to reporters afterwards. Signed a bill creating electronic prescription monitoring


• Friday, August 11 - Attended a fund-raiser, (presumably) recorded his Saturday radio address, (presumably) spent sometime in a Presidential daily briefing