Presidential Vacation Watch

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Monika Bauerlein,
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I know this is of keen interest to everyone, so here’s the scoop on President Obama’s August vacation at Martha’s Vineyard:

How does the number of vacation days the president has spent compare to his predecessors? CBS Radio’s Mark Knoller has kept track of presidential vacations for years and supplied the data.

So far, President Obama has taken 61 vacation days after 31 months in office. At this point in their presidencies, George W. Bush had spent 180 days at his ranch where his staff often joined him for meetings. And Ronald Reagan had taken 112 vacation days at his ranch. Among recent presidents, Bill Clinton took the least time off — 28 days.

Does this mean we can knock off our idiotic annual whining about Obama’s vacations? No? I guess I didn’t think so. Carry on then. And don’t forget to complain about how elitist Martha’s Vineyard is compared to a multi-million-dollar ranch that was purpose built to be a presidential backdrop. It wouldn’t be the same without that.