President Obama has been criticized for remaining on vacation despite the trouble in Ferguson, Mo., and the news of James Foley’s execution. But compared with other presidents, Mr. Obama hasn’t taken much time off.
During his eight-year presidency, [George W.] Bush did take 879 days of vacation, including 77 trips to his Texas ranch. So far, Obama has taken about 150 days off.
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There seems to be no correlation between vacation days and a president’s legacy. No modern president took less vacation than Jimmy Carter (79 days), while Ronald Reagan spent 335 days at his beloved California ranch. President John F. Kennedy spent nearly every weekend of his shortened presidency at one of his family’s several properties. FDR made 134 trips to Hyde Park and spent an additional six months of his presidency in Warm Springs, Ga., where he treated symptoms of his polio.