Escapes From The White House
When Washington gets to be too much, presidents need to get away. A look at their private worlds
Bush, like most modern presidents, was reluctant to break off his vacations, even during crises. He told aides he had all the communications facilities that he needed to stay in touch, and his senior advisers were always close by. In the end, however, Bush suffered politically from his extended stays at Kennebunkport. Voters, mired in a deep recession, thought Bush was insensitive and out of touch, and he lost his bid for re-election in 1992.
Bill Clinton never had a home of his own until he left the presidency, so he had to borrow the residences of rich friends and supporters to get some R&R. His favorite place was Martha's Vineyard. Summering there for six of his eight years as president gave him and his wife, Hillary, several things they relished: time to relax, the opportunity to spend time with daughter Chelsea, and the chance to socialize as much as they wanted with friends. It was at Martha's Vineyard that Clinton tried to repair his marriage after finally admitting that he'd had an affair with former intern Monica Lewinsky.
Sanctuary. Like Lyndon Johnson and Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush gets back to his ranch as often as he can. There he has made many key decisions in directing the war on terrorism. "We met on the Iraq war here a lot," Bush said in an interview at the ranch. "Transformation issues have come up here as a result of annually the joint chiefs coming down, or [Joint Chiefs Chairman] Dick Myers coming down with [Defense Secretary Donald] Rumsfeld and others to go over different aspects of military planning. . . . I spend more time particularly when senior members of my administration come, thinking big-picture items--relationship between the United States and Europe, for example." Bush added: "There's nothing like having your own property . . . if you own your land, every day is Earth Day." Prairie Chapel Ranch is home, a place where Bush can spend time with his wife, Laura, and friends, chop cedar, and clear brush. He goes mountain biking, listens in the morning for the whistling calls of the bobwhite quail, and takes walks with Laura amid the ash, walnut, sycamore, oak, and pecan trees. He entertains small groups of friends over dinners of broiled fish caught in his stocked lake and pitchers of iced tea or diet cola. The president and first lady like to retire early, rarely later than 10 p.m. They get up at dawn.
More so than anywhere else, at the ranch Bush projects an image he has carefully cultivated in his political life--that of the Washington outsider content with life's simple pleasures and chafed by the self-important ways of the capital. When he knows he'll be at the ranch for more than a few days, Bush will come armed with a detailed work plan for making improvements. During his first year in office, he focused on building a nature trail through his canyons. In August 2003, he began to clear an area for a new office separate from the main house; that office has now been built. His master plan includes the construction of houses for his twin daughters, so they can visit and have some privacy well into the future.
Bush feels no need to share the details of all this with the public. Nor does he publicize the names of those who have joined him as guests. "He doesn't feel like he owes anyone an explanation," a friend says. "It's his sanctuary."
WHITE HOUSE GETAWAYS
Excerpted from From Mount Vernon to Crawford: A History of the Presidents and Their Retreats by Kenneth T. Walsh. Copyright (c) 2005 by Kenneth T. Walsh. Published by Hyperion. Available wherever books are sold.
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