by Mark Silva and updated with a correction
What a president does for recreation, of course, is his own business, but it is a casualty of life in the White House that presidential recreation also becomes the public's business.
The question arises as conservative Internet channels today are abuzz with President Barack Obama's golfing -- his 24th game as president logged on Sunday. It took Obama's predecessor, George W. Bush, nearly three years to log that many golf games.
CBS News' Mark Knoller, who keeps a faithful count of presidential travels, delivered a report by Twitter on Sunday, as the president put in a day of golf at Fort Belvoir: "Today - Obama ties Pres. Bush in the number of rounds of golf played in office: 24. Took Bush 2 yrs & 10 months."
(The documentarian of presidential travel previously has advised us that Bush spent more than a year of days at his ranch in Texas during two terms, and more than a year at the presidential retreat at Camp David -- not the Bush family compound at Kennebunkport, as earlier suggeted -- it was more than a month in Maine. Christmas vacations and summer holidays racked up serious time, as did many weekend jaunts.)
But then, following the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in the spring of 2003, Bush gave up golf. ""I don't want some mom whose son may have recently died to see the commander-in- chief playing golf,'' he explained. "I feel I owe it to the families to be as, you know, to be in solidarity as best I can with them, and I think playing golf during a war just sends the wrong signal...
There had been that unfortunate moment when, club in hand, Bush had said: "We must stop the terror. I call upon all nations to do everything they can to stop these terrorist killings... Thank you, now watch this drive.''
When Bush's knees dictated that he give up jogging, he turned to mountain-biking with a passion -- tearing up the paths of nature preserves and military bases with a fervor that left partners in the dust. (The former president is pictured biking with Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong in a White House photo here.)
When Bush went biking in the privacy of his remote ranch, there was no way of knowing how often he rode the trails. But Knoller graciously shares with our Washington Bureau today a count of those times when the president, press pool in tow, left the White House with a mountain bike: Bush mostly rode around the Beltsville, Md., Secret Service Training Facility, but also biked at Fort Belvoir and a few times at Marine base Quantico.
By Knoller's count: 140 days of bike outings from the White House.
When a president goes golfing, the public sees little of it -- only the ritual comings and goings of the president from the White House, such as the long afternoon spent Sunday at Fort Belvoir, out of the White House shortly after noon, back by about 6:30 pm.
Obama had his good friend Dr. Eric Whitaker with him on Sunday -- the two are pictured above warming up at a course in Hawaii before Obama's inauguration (photo by AFP / Getty Images). He also had his domestic policy adviser, Melody Barnes, along for the day -- the first time that a woman had joined the president's golfing party this year.
Obama plays basketball too (see White House photo above), and has turned the tennis court at the White House over to hoops. His wife, Michelle Obama, laments that he usually beats her at tennis.
So he golfs, he jumps, he serves -- all in the name of recreation.
But then, who's counting?
Comments
Yesterday George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush were at the Houston Texans game, during which H.W. Bush was interviewed and said, "we're all Houstonians". That's an outright lie because Junior recently bought a house in an exclusive DALLAS neighborhood that, until a few years ago, had covenants that prevented selling homes to African-Americans.
Posted by: BC | October 26, 2009 11:43 AM
Notice how the White-House-approved Swamp brings in Bush to try and excuse Obama's again playing golf?
Perhaps a real journalist would ask Obama whether he'd actually read the 1,502 page ObamaCare bill.
Posted by: Make them read the bills they vote for... | October 26, 2009 12:06 PM
Wow, no time to make a decision for our troops but plenty of time for basketball and golf. I bet he'll even try to blame this on Bush. What a disgrace!!
Posted by: Laura | October 26, 2009 12:12 PM
Another puff piece by the SWAMP and one wonders why circulation is dropping.
Here is the list of the circulation numbers of the Top 25 papers, only one has increased circulation - the Wall Street Journal (that ought to make city worker FITZ happy).
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1004030296
Secon, speaking of conservative success, see the following poll
http://www.gallup.com/poll/123854/Conservatives-Maintain-Edge-Top-Ideological-Group.aspx
Posted by: Terry | October 26, 2009 12:33 PM
BC,
They're not even Texans (except for tax purposes), and I should know.
And don't be fooled that that's a bicycle helmet. He wore that golfing too. Seems he kept hitting himself in the head on his golf upswing.
Posted by: Kenny Bunkport | October 26, 2009 1:52 PM
Republican George W. GEORGE W BUSH'S "ACCOMPLISHMENTS" AS PRESIDENT:
* Attacked and took over two countries.
* Spent the surplus and bankrupted the treasury.
* Shattered record for biggest annual deficit in history.
* Set economic record for most private bankruptcies filed in any 12 month period.
* Set all-time record for biggest drop in the history of the stock market.
* First president in decades to execute a federal prisoner.
* First president in US history to enter office with a criminal record.
* First year in office set the all-time record for most days on vacation by any president in US history.
* After taking the entire month of August off for vacation, presided over the worst security failure in US history.
* Set the record for most campaign fund-raising trips than any other president in US history.
* In first two years in office over 2 million Americans lost their job.
*Cut unemployment benefits for more out of work Americans than any president in US history.
* Set the all-time record for most foreclosures in a 12 month period.
* Appointed more convicted criminals to administration positions than any president in US history.
* Set the record for the least amount of press conferences than any president since the advent of television.
* Signed more laws and executive orders amending the Constitution than any president in US history.
* Presided over the biggest energy crises in US history and refused to intervene when corruption was revealed.
* Presided over the highest gasoline prices in US history and refused to use the national reserves as past presidents have.
* Cut healthcare benefits for war veterans.
* Set the all-time record for most people worldwide to simultaneously take to the streets to protest me (15 million people), shattering the record for protest against any person in the history of mankind.
* Dissolved more international treaties than any president in US history.
* Presidency was the most secretive and un-accountable of any in US history.
* Members of cabinet were the richest of any administration in US history. (the 'poorest' multi-millionaire, Condoleeza Rice has an Exxon oil tanker named after her).
* First president in US history to have all 50 states of the Union simultaneously go bankrupt.
* Presided over the biggest corporate stock market fraud of any market in any country in the history of the world.
* First president in US history to order a US attack and military occupation of a sovereign nation.
* Created the largest government department bureaucracy in the history of the United States.
* Set the all-time record for biggest annual budget spending increases, more than any president in US history.
* First president in US history to have the United Nations remove the US from the human rights commission.
* First president in US history to have the United Nations remove the US from the elections monitoring board.
* Removed more checks and balances, and have the least amount of congressional oversight than any presidential administration in US history.
* Rendered the entire United Nations irrelevant.
* Withdrew from the World Court of Law.
* Refused to allow inspectors access to US prisoners of war and by default no longer abide by the Geneva Conventions.
* First president in US history to refuse United Nations election inspectors (during the 2002 US elections).
* All-time US (and world) record holder for most corporate campaign donations.
* Biggest life-time campaign contributor presided over one of the largest corporate bankruptcy frauds in world history (Kenneth Lay, former CEO of Enron Corporation).
* Spent more money on polls and focus groups than any president in US history.
* First president in US history to unilaterally attack a sovereign nation against the will of the United Nations and the world community.
* First president to run and hide when the US came under attack (and then lied saying the enemy had the code to Air Force 1)
* First US president to establish a secret shadow government.
* Took the biggest world sympathy for the US after 911, and in less than a year made the US the most resented country in the world (possibly the biggest diplomatic failure in US and world history).
* With a policy of 'dis-engagement' created the most hostile Israeli-Palestine relations in at least 30 years.
* First US president in history to have a majority of the people of Europe (71%) view my presidency as the biggest threat to world peace and stability.
* First US president in history to have the people of South Korea more threatened by the US than their immediate neighbor, North Korea.
* Changed US policy to allow convicted criminals to be awarded government contracts
* Set all-time record for number of administration appointees who violated US law by not selling huge investments in corporations bidding for government contracts.
* Failed to fulfill his pledge to get Osama Bin Laden 'dead or alive'.
* Failed to capture the anthrax killer who tried to murder the leaders of our country at the United States Capital building. After 18 months I have no leads and zero suspects.
* In the 18 months following the 911 attacks Bush successfully prevented any public investigation into the biggest security failure in the history of the United States.
* Removed more freedoms and civil liberties for Americans than any other president in US history.
* In a little over two years created the most divided country in decades, possibly the most divided the US has ever been since the civil war.
* Entered office with the strongest economy in US history and in less than two years turned every single economic category heading straight down.
Posted by: Fat, Drunk and Republican is no way to go through life | October 26, 2009 2:26 PM
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Perhaps a real journalist would ask Obama whether he'd actually read the 1,502 page ObamaCare bill.
Posted by: Make them read the bills they vote for... | October 26, 2009 12:06 PM
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I've read the bill, Teresa.
In the fine print at the bottom of the bill it says: "if this bill passes Republicans will go the way of the Whig party".
That's why I'm not surprised that you Repug rubes are still fearmongering about it.
Posted by: Bobbie Mobbie | October 26, 2009 2:32 PM
Record Breaker! Bush Takes Most Vacation Days For Sitting President!
"President Bush recently spent his 879th day at his ranch in Crawford, Texas, since the Supreme Court, in all its great wisdom, elevated him to the presidency. This according to NPR's "Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me," which noted that Bush broke former President Reagan's record for taking vacations from the White House.rIt's interesting to recall, all these wild years later, that George W. Bush did not decide to buy the ranch near Crawford until after he decided to run for president. Apparently, after Ronald Reagan's example, it seemed presidential to cut brush on a ranch, and Bush was seeking a brush with history. Or something."
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http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/03/11/politics/uwire/main3927378.shtml
Posted by: Mission Accomplished! | October 26, 2009 3:14 PM
Secon, speaking of conservative success, see the following poll
Posted by: Terry | October 26, 2009 12:33 PM
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
The people who are "real conservatives" are now Libertarians, Independents and Democrats.
The only ones left in the Repug party are highly partisan Teabagger rubes like yourself, Terri.
Posted by: Terry is a girls name | October 26, 2009 3:36 PM
Up next, the comparisons to these two mens taste in peanut butter!
After that huge story, we'll see the comparison between the Bush family laundry day and the Obama family laundry day!
Once all the votes are in during final ratings week, the ultimate comparison between the Bush and Obama presidency's will be............
Drum roll .............................
Which man can sit at the Oval office desk the longest without asking for a "Let me be clear" talking point!
No teleprompter's allowed so they had better be sharp!
Posted by: springfield | October 26, 2009 3:47 PM
Bruce,
Why would the President waste time reading a bill in its infant stage? Why would you want the President wasting time on anything other than the Final Product which would need either his signature or veto?
Posted by: simply the truth | October 26, 2009 4:00 PM
this just in..;. The Nobel Committee, after seeing Obama play golf, awarded him the U.S. Open championship. The committee explained that while Obama may be a lousy golfer now, they "know" he'll be a champion someday, so why wait?
Posted by: Make them read the bills they vote for... | October 26, 2009 4:06 PM
Ahhh, Idiot-for-Life BC shows his stupidity once again. BC, the elder Bush lives in the Houston area. George W Bush has lived there too. He now resides part time in Dallas and part-time in Crawford. When I was away at college, I still called myself a Chicagoan.
Also, stop reading your left wing blogs. That covenent was enacted in 1956, but a Supreme ruling in 1948 made such covenants illegal. Anyway, it no longer exists and could not have been acted upon anyway. Now, Mark Cuban also lives there, so by your reckoning does that make Cuban a racist?
Idiot-for-Life BC, just how dang ignorant are you?
Posted by: John D, still right, as usual | October 26, 2009 6:40 PM
Also, Mark, George W Bush spent a year's worth of time in Kennebunkport? Really?
Anyway, it is a nice try to cover for your guy not doing much, except for screwing up this country, playing golf and basketball, and having high-priced parties with high-priced entertainers at the White House all the time.
Posted by: John D, still right, as usual | October 26, 2009 6:44 PM
Please note the correction on Kennebunkport -- actually, JD was right on this one. We confused Camp David with Kennebunkport. It was Camp David where Bush logged the second-most days of rest, behind his ranch..... This was the count during a Bush visit to Kennebunkport in July 2007:
"The president will have spent all or part of only 35 days at Kennebunkport, during this, his ninth trip here as president, when he leaves on Monday. By contrast, he has spent all or part of 386 days at Camp David and all or part of 418 days at his ranch near Crawford, Tex., during his presidency – according to tally kept by CBS News Radio's Mark Knoller.''
http://www.swamppolitics.com/news/politics/blog/2007/07/bush_and_putin_smooth_relation.html
Posted by: Mark Silva | October 26, 2009 7:03 PM
Which man can sit at the Oval office desk the longest without asking for a "Let me be clear" talking point!No teleprompter's allowed so they had better be sharp!
Posted by: springfield | October 26, 2009 3:47 PM
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It's not our fault that you voted for a guy (Bush) TWICE, who can't speak even when he does have a teleprompter.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGRYPYuFZLk
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Posted by: Donny | October 26, 2009 7:05 PM
What is Obama giving up to resonate with the two wars we are still knee deep in-- to stand in solitude with our men and women in uniform and their families? Lord knows it's not smoking.
Posted by: He should have tried out for the Beijin Olympics instead. | October 26, 2009 8:09 PM
With 9 months in office Obama has gone to 25 fundraisers. Clinton it was 6 and for Bush 5. I said two years ago with Obama saying should be: "WH for sale".
Posted by: Crooks_In_DC | October 26, 2009 9:19 PM
Posted by: Fat, Drunk and Republican is no way to go through life | October 26, 2009 2:26 PM
WOW REALLY!!! Do a little fact checking, or were you drunk again. Oh sorry you're one of those on the left that can not think for themselves unless you get it from the DNC.
* Spent the surplus and bankrupted the treasury.
Never was a surplus, the democrats forgot to add in few things, like SS.
* Set economic record for most private bankruptcies filed in any 12 month period.
The word that seems to tie you up on this one is "private". DC can not tell people how to manage their money, and by the way it looks like this year is going to be tops.
* Set the record for most campaign fund-raising trips than any other president in US history.
In Obama's 1st 9 months he has done 25 fundraisers. In their 1st 9 months Clinton did 6 and Bush 5.
* In first two years in office over 2 million Americans lost their job.
In 9 months Obama lost 3 million jobs for the U.S. taxpayer.
* Set the all-time record for most foreclosures in a 12 month period.
Do I even need to go there.
* First president in US history to order a US attack and military occupation of a sovereign nation.
You really do not know a lot of U.S. History do you?
* Presided over the biggest energy crises in US history and refused to intervene when corruption was revealed.
What are you talking about on this one.
* Presided over the highest gasoline prices in US history and refused to use the national reserves as past presidents have.
And do you know why there are national reserves? And may be you should look at the cost of gas now and where it was two weeks ago. Its on it way up and no president can stop that, its a world thing but, you would not understand.
* First president in US history to have the United Nations remove the US from the human rights commission.
We were not removed the US walked out and will again. Look who is on it and read their reports. And the US was not the only ones that walked.
* First president in US history to have the United Nations remove the US from the elections monitoring board.
Same as above.
* Rendered the entire United Nations irrelevant.
No, the UN did that all by themselves.
* All-time US (and world) record holder for most corporate campaign donations.
That title goes to Obama, sorry.
* Biggest life-time campaign contributor presided over one of the largest corporate bankruptcy frauds in world history (Kenneth Lay, former CEO of Enron Corporation).
Do a little fact checking.
* Signed more laws and executive orders amending the Constitution than any president in US history.
WOW you're kidding right?
* First president to run and hide when the US came under attack (and then lied saying the enemy had the code to Air Force 1)
Once more WOW you're kidding right?
My point is you got this from a blogger and I really hope you are not thinking they are real.
Posted by: Crooks_In_DC | October 26, 2009 11:33 PM
From Mark Silva: It was Camp David where Bush logged the second-most days of rest, behind his ranch....."
Rest, Mark, really? And weren't most of those days weekend days that Bush spent at Camp David? Is a president ever really at rest?
Does the media consider all the days Obama is away from the White House as rest? Are his golf days rest? How many rest days has Obama had so far?
Posted by: John D, still right, as usual | October 26, 2009 11:47 PM