CRAWFORD,
Tex., August 6, 2001 -- By the time President Bush returns to Washington
on Labor Day after the longest presidential
vacation in 32 years, he will have spent all or part of 54 days
since the inauguration at his parched but beloved ranch. That's
almost a quarter of his presidency.
Throw in four days last month at his parents' seaside estate
in Kennebunkport, Maine, and 38 full or partial days at the
presidential retreat at Camp David, and Bush will have spent
42 percent of his presidency at vacation spots or en route.
Many of those days are weekends, and the Camp David stays
have included working visits with foreign leaders. But administration
officials, who initially believed that regular trips to the
Texas ranch enhanced Bush's image as a rugged outsider, are
acting like they may be worried about the perception that he
is loafing.
Responding to criticism from Democrats and their fears of
long-term damage to Bush's image, his advisers have piled on
so many activities for this month-long vacation that the president
is likely to feel he is marooned at an overly ambitious summer
camp. The White House held a briefing today to announce that
Bush had run four miles early this morning, held a 45-minute
meeting with four senior officials here and talked by telephone
with national security adviser Condoleezza Rice about Macedonia.
Bush will "spend a good portion of the time working," spokesman
Scott McClellan told reporters today.
The president did persuade some of his lucky aides to help
him build a nature trail in one of his canyons, in the 102-degree
heat.
Bush stayed out of sight for the second day in a row and the
White House would not allow journalists near the ranch. But
the administration released two frames by White House photographer
Eric Draper, one showing Bush in the meeting with senior aides.
He is studying papers and wearing his reading glasses. The
other captured him sporting a cowboy hat.
McClellan disclosed that Bush is reading "In the Heart of
the Sea," last year's account of the whaling disaster that
inspired "Moby Dick." He said Bush intends to finish David
McCullough's "John Adams," and then probably will read "a mystery
of some kind" but hasn't yet determined which one.
White House officials did not dispute the Washington Post
calculations about Bush's travels. But McClellan said Bush
spent much of that time on presidential duties. McClellan noted
that Texas is Bush's home, and pointed out that he is accompanied
by national security, military and communications support.
"The president, much like members of Congress -- although
for a shorter period of time, I might add -- believes it's
important to come back home," McClellan said at the briefing.
When Bush visited his Prairie Chapel Ranch as Texas governor,
he grilled burgers, swam in his pool and fished from his stocked
bass pond -- and no one made any fuss about it. Now, a press
corps of 60 sits seven miles away, in a muggy gym, and presses
administration officials for a running account of his activities.
But Bush is unabashed about his travels. He had been
in office less than two months when he told reporters in Washington, "If
I'm not going to Crawford, and I don't have to give a speech
here on the weekend, I'm going to go to Camp David."
Aides say that of all Bush's options for escaping the 18-acre
White House grounds, his favorite by far is the 1,583 acres
of Prairie Chapel Ranch, which he and his wife, Laura, bought
in 1999 after his reelection as Texas governor.
"I love to go walking out there, seeing the cows -- occasionally
they talk to me, being the good listener that I am," Bush told
Future Farmers of America leaders last month. "It's important
for all of us in Washington to stay in touch with the values
of the heartland, because they're values that really are
unique. It basically says that values -- a value system of
basic, inherent
values, that override politics and different demographies
and different religions. It's what makes America so unique
and
great."
Crawford's one major intersection just got a fancier blinker
light, but many more changes are on the way. Bush plans to
hold a summit here with Russian President Vladimir Putin in
November, and White House officials held a strategy session
today about how to import 400 to 500 phone lines -- and the
officials and journalists that go with them -- to a quiet,
dusty community with two gas stations and no drugstore or motel.
The central role the ranch plays in Bush's psyche was evident
when he was headed here six weeks ago and stopped en route
at a state park in Alabama. White House officials had promised
a major environmental speech, but Bush delivered 12 minutes
of boilerplate that drew little news coverage and caused backbiting
among the White House staff over who was to blame for the botched
trip. That night, though, with his Crawford getaway just a
few hours away, Bush was enthusiastic.
"I can't wait to get back home," Bush said to laughter and
applause at a $1,000-a-plate fundraising dinner in Birmingham. "Washington,
D.C., is a great place to work. But Texas is a great place
to relax."
In private conversations, Bush is said to occasionally rhapsodize
about the breezes on his ranch -- baffling aides who cannot
understand why he chooses this region's bleak topography and
culture to, say, Kennebunkport or President Bill Clinton's
frequent vacation spot, Martha's Vineyard, Mass.
Few senior aides have accompanied Bush here. Chief of Staff
Andrew H. Card Jr. and the deputy chief of staff for operations,
Joseph Hagin, are trading off Crawford duty. Counselor Karen
Hughes is on her own two-week vacation. Press staff are rotating
in and out.
Bush's 30-day break is unmatched by a president since
a visit by Richard Nixon to San Clemente, Calif., in 1969. With
Bush
already combating doubts about his diligence, administration
officials have been at pains to paint the trip as a "working
vacation," and have even given it a slogan -- the Home to the
Heartland Tour. "The president will joyfully spend more time
away from Washington, D.C., than any previous president in
quite a little while, but he'll be working while he's doing
it," White House press secretary Ari Fleischer said Friday.
Terence R. McAuliffe, chairman of the Democratic
National Committee, joked about Bush's schedule this weekend on "Fox
News Sunday" during a discussion of the fall legislative fights
the president faces. "I hope he has a long, enjoyable vacation," McAuliffe
said. "He's going to need it when he gets back."
On Tuesday, Bush is scheduled to venture out into
Crawford, which he rarely does on his trips to the ranch. On Wednesday,
he will help build a Habitat for Humanity house in nearby
Waco. Before Labor Day, he is scheduled to fly to eight communities
over seven days in an effort, as McClellan put it, to "listen
to the concerns of the people across America and to highlight
the values that bring America together."
McClellan said Bush will not be participating in
forums or town halls. "It's more informal visiting," McClellan
said. Stops will include a Veterans of Foreign Wars convention
in Milwaukee, a park in the Denver area where he will talk
about
character education, a back-to-school event in Albuquerque,
an American Legion convention in San Antonio and the Little
League World Series in Williamsport, Pa.
Several of Bush's predecessors also liked vacations. Associated
Press tallies show President Ronald Reagan spent all or part
of 335 days during his eight-year presidency in Santa Barbara,
Calif., while over four years Bush's father spent all or part
of 153 days in Kennebunkport and 390 at Camp David. President
Harry Truman spent 175 days in Key West, Fla., over seven years,
and President Dwight Eisenhower took 29 golf outings to Augusta,
Ga., over 222 days during his eight-year presidency, according
to the AP research.
Despite such history, Bush aides remain eager to
highlight the work in his "working vacation." McClellan said Bush, who
runs at a pace of 7 minutes 25 seconds per mile, may be willing
to have company on one of his jogs "if there are a couple
of reporters that think they can keep up with him."
