President Bush’s Weekend Getaway
President Bush’s Weekend Getaway Bush Spends 61st Birthday at Camp David, His 387th Day at his Presidential Retreat By JENNIFER PARKER
July 6, 2007
As the temperatures rise in Washington, D.C., many in the nation’s capital make haste to weekend cottages or nearby beaches.
President George W. Bush is no different.
He will be spending his 61st birthday on Friday as he does many of his weekends — at the rustic, presidential retreat in Maryland known as Camp David.
Bush is continuing a routine that has become a big part of his presidency.
Friday marks the President’s 124th visit to Camp David since he took office in 2000.
That means, Bush has spent over a year of his presidency at Camp David — 387 days, either entirely or partially, according to Mark Knoller, a CBS Radio White House correspondent known for keeping meticulous records of the president’s vacation days.
Only one other second-term president has spent so much time at Camp David — former President Ronald Reagan spent virtually every weekend there for eight years.
Frequent Presidential Retreat
Reagan made 186 visits to Camp David, spending all or part of 517 days there, according to Knoller. Reagan also used the retreat to host important guests, including former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.
Other presidents have spent comparatively less time at Camp David than Bush and Reagan.
President George H.W.Bush also frequented Camp David, often taking guests. However he spent less time there as president than his son because he served only one term as president.
Former President Jimmy Carter spent all or part of 376 days there, according to Knoller.
Carter famously brought Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin to Camp David in 1978 which led to the signing of a peace agreement known as the Camp David Accords.
Camp David is located in Frederick County, Maryland, 60 miles north of Washington, D.C.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt, seeking relief from the humid Washington summers, founded the retreat and called it “Shangri-La.” However President Dwight Eisenhower renamed the retreat “Camp David” after his grandson, David Eisenhower.
Camp David has been modernized during the Bush administration, due to the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the ongoing war in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The White House has installed secure teleconference equipment with live capabilities that allows Bush to be there more often. Plus, the President, an avid exerciser, has installed bike trails at Camp David so he can now ride his bike in relative private.
Bush a Frequent Vacationer
During Bush’s 2000 presidential campaign, the former Texas governor argued he was a Washington outsider, and started his term claiming he would go to his Texas ranch every five to six weeks.
Indeed, President Bush has made 65 visits to his Crawford, Texas ranch, spending all or part of 418 days there, according to Knoller.
In 2005, Bush was roundly criticized for taking a lengthy vacation of nearly five weeks away from the White House — one of the longest presidential retreats in at least 36 years — when Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast and left New Orleans engulfed in floodwater.
In a 2006 Washington Post article, former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer said Bush’s response to Katrina was one of the most damaging events of his presidency.
“It caught a tired White House staff off guard,” Fleischer was quoted as saying.
Perhaps smarting from the criticism, last summer Bush spent just ten days at his Prairie Chapel ranch in Texas, where he was dogged by anti-war protests led by Cindy Sheehan, the mother of a U.S. soldier killed in Iraq.
Bush has also been criticized for not being attentive when he was on vacation at his ranch shortly before the 9/11 attacks.
On August 6, 2001, Bush was vacationing at his ranch when he was given the “president’s daily brief” containing a two-page section entitled “Bin Laden Determined to Strike in US.”
With files from CBS News’ Mark Knoller. ABC News’ Ann Compton and Jennifer Duck contributed to this report.
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