United States presidential vacations

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.

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.
• 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.
• James Garfield was shot while leaving Washington for his vacation.
• Theodore Roosevelt was criticized for leaving Washington for months at a time.
• Franklin Roosevelt was criticized for spending time on his yacht.
• George W. Bush was often criticized by Democrats for taking long vacations to his ranch in Crawford, Texas, during the Iraq war.
• Barack Obama's vacations have been scrutinized by the media. During the 2007–2012 recession he was criticized for vacationing at Martha's Vineyard.
• President 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. 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."
• Joe Biden: According to a CNN article dated October 17, 2022, "Biden has spent more than a quarter of his time working from his home state of Delaware, either at his house in Wilmington or his Rehoboth Beach property."

Known totals

Sources:

Notes

References

References

1. B. Jasnoff. (August 2016). "The Clintons Were Here. So Were the Obamas". [[Boston Magazine]].
2. (August 23, 2010). "Criticism likely to follow Obama on upcoming vacation". CNN.
3. (August 24, 2010). "Some Past Presidential Vacations". [[My Fox Spokane]].
4. Rawlings, Nate. (August 23, 2010). "Brief History: Presidential Vacations". [[Time magazine]].
5. (August 18, 2010). "Obamas to begin sixth holiday of the year". [[The Daily Telegraph]].
6. (2017-01-02). "Obama returns to Washington: Protecting healthcare law on the closing stretch agenda". Associated Press.
7. Adam K. Raymond. (22 May 2019). "The Taxpayer Tab for Trump's Golf Outings Tops $100 Million: Report".
8. S.V. Date. (22 May 2019). "Trump's Golf Costs: $102 Million And Counting, With Taxpayers Picking Up The Tab; Trump promised never to golf. Instead, he's spent more than twice as many days golfing as Obama at the same point, costing taxpayers over three times as much.".
9. "Trump-O-Meter: {{!}} PolitiFact".
10. (October 17, 2022). "Biden has spent more than a fourth of his presidency working from Delaware, outpacing Trump's regular trips away". CNN.
11. (2025-02-04). "Breaking Down How Much Time Biden Spent on Vacation While President – It's Not 40%".
12. (2023-09-05). "Fact Check Team: Comparing President Biden's vacation time in comparison to predecessors".
13. (22 October 2019). "Tracking President Trump's visits to Trump properties". NBC.
14. "Cost Model".
15. Carolyn Kaster. (2017-08-10). "Presidential vacations: Which commander in chief took the most time off?". [[Cleveland.com]].
16. (2017-09-14). "Judicial Watch: Obama Travel Cost Now $105,662,975.27". [[Judicial Watch]].
17. Lauren Victoria Burke. (2013-03-27). "The Most Vacationing President in U.S. History: George W. Bush".
18. C. Eugene Emery Jr.. (2016-09-09). "Facts take a vacation in Occupy Democrats' post about presidential, congressional time off". [[Politifact]].
19. Dan Froomkin. (2008-03-04). "The Vacation President". [[Washington Post]].
20. Trudeau, Noah. (2016). "Lincoln's Greatest Journey: Sixteen Days that Changed a Presidency, March 24 – April 8, 1865". Savas Beatie.
21. "Harry S Truman Little White House". [[National Park Service]].
22. (2014-12-22). "Compared to past presidents, Obama takes few vacations". [[CBS News]].
23. (2014-08-15). "Five myths about presidential vacations". [[Washington Post]].