More and more people keep asking us where other presidents spent Christmas, stunned the current president and his family are burning through tens of thousands of dollars A DAY renting three mansions, side-by-side, on the islands of Hawaii, dragging hundreds of staff members thousands of miles from their families at Christmas, all at massive taxpayer expense.
Where’s the outrage from the same peanut gallery that scolded the RNC for spending money on a campaign wardrobe for the Palins? Which, incidentally, is the same peanut gallery that said not a word about the fortune dropped on Dr. Utopia and Joe Biden’s tailored suits during the campaign, and all the upholstery fabric and garbage bags used to make the current First Lady’s campaign wear (assembled by kindergartners’ and schools for the blind).
We don’t know if we’ll have time to get to it today, but we would like to solve the mystery of where each president since at least Kennedy spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. If we can get this table filled in, then we can go back further as well:
Where did the First Family spend Christmas in the year:
2009 = Obamas went on lavish $12,000+/day Hawaiian luxury trip, renting three side-by-side-by-side mansions on a beach “favored by Hawaiian royalty”
2008 (Bush) = Camp David (article says Bush spent 12 Christmases at Camp David, which includes his father’s 4 years in office too)
2007 (Bush) = Camp David for Christmas Eve and Day, then on to Crawford, Texas
2006 (Bush) = Camp David
2005 (Bush) = Camp David
2004 (Bush) = Camp David
2003 (Bush) = Camp David
2002 (Bush) = Camp David
2001 (Bush) = Camp David
2000 (Clintons) = White House
1999 (Clintons) = White House, preparing for the Y2K changeover
1998 (Clintons) = White House, then Hilton Head for Renaissance Weekend and New Year
1997 (Clintons) = Sarajevo, the former Yugoslavia, with our troops
1996 (Clintons) = White House
1995 (Clintons) =
1994 (Clintons) =
1993 (Clintons) = Hilton Head, South Carolina (borrowed house from friend)
1992 (Bush) = Camp David
1991 (Bush) = Camp David
1990 (Bush) = Camp David
1989 (Bush) = Camp David
1988 (Reagan) = White House *NOTE: Reagan did this so agents could be with family at Christmas and his staff wouldn’t be pulled away from loved ones during the holidays.
1987 (Regan) = White House
1986 (Reagan) = White House
1985 (Reagan) = White House
1984 (Reagan) = White House
1983 (Reagan) = White House
1982 (Reagan) = White House
1981 (Reagan) = White House
1980 (Carter) = Plains, Georgia
1979 (Carter) = Camp David
1978 (Carter) = Plains, Georgia (as noted in his book, Christmas in Plains, p. 188)
1977 (Carter) = Plains, Georgia (as noted in his book, Christmas in Plains, p. 109)
1976 (Ford) = Vail, Colorado
1975 (Ford) = Vail, Colorado
1974 (Ford) = Vail, Colorado
1973 (Nixon) =
1972 (Nixon) = Key Biscayne, Florida
1971 (Nixon) = White House
1970 (Nixon) = White House
1969 (Nixon) = White House
1968 (Johnson) = White House
1967 (Johnson) = White House
1966 (Johnson) = Texas, personal ranch
1965 (Johnson) = Texas, personal ranch
1964 (Johnson) = Texas, personal ranch
1963 (Johnson) = Texas, personal ranch
1962 (Kennedy) = Hyannis Port, MA (family palace)
1961 (Kennedy) = Hyannis Port, MA (family palace)
1960 (Eisenhower) = White House (per book, Christmas in the White House by Alberto Menendez, he worked for several hours in the Oval that day, too)
*******
* One way to do this would be to search old newspapers for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day of each year, looking for a story about the president at the time, which would most likely say where he and his family was that day
* Add what you find to this thread and we will update the table above, and build it out to show where previous presidents have spent Christmas
* PLEASE include link to your source so this list can be as accurate as possible, as it appears no one else has thought to assemble something like this for reference
* We don’t remember any president spending as lavishly or pulling staff away from their families on the holidays as much as the current president and his “fashion icon” wife, especially not in a time when so many are suffering in a prolonged recession (which this president promised he’d solve by now)
December 26, 2009 at 1:11 pm
2007 GWB at Camp David for Christmas (I think he was there in 2006 too but do not have a link to verify)
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=340182&rss=yes
December 26, 2009 at 1:12 pm
opps, looks like you already have 2007, sorry.
December 26, 2009 at 1:18 pm
Looks like Geo Bush spent 12 Christmases at Camp David
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2008/12/23/bushs_last_camp_david_christma.html
December 26, 2009 at 1:23 pm
What a great holiday project !
I recall 1999 Clinton was in the White House for the Y2K New Years Eve and stayed up all night monitoring every time zone to be assured Americans all over the world were safe.
December 26, 2009 at 4:07 pm
Or…getting serviced all night
December 26, 2009 at 8:24 pm
Why are you making comments about Clinton and not other presidents like JFK who probably had more WH “servicing” than any others.
December 27, 2009 at 2:16 am
Because the comment Denise made was in reference to Clinton.
JFK is dead, thus cannot make attempts to reclaim the White House.
And that being the Democrats ism since JFK…assuming the White House rightfully belongs to them and not THE PEOPLE. It’s in the genes.
Freedom of Speech is still alive and well on most blogs and open for discussion, thus we learn.
December 26, 2009 at 1:24 pm
Carter, from ghis book Christmas in Plains:
1977 Plains, Ga. p. 109 of above book
1978, Plains, Ga., p. 188 of above book
1979. possibly Camp David, but can’t confirm this. Does someone have the book?
December 26, 2009 at 1:30 pm
Ronald Regan spent all Christmases in the White House so his Secret Service folks could be home for Christmas…
http://www.exposeobama.com/tag/ronald-reagan/
December 26, 2009 at 2:41 pm
Now THAT’S an AMERICAN!!! I didn’t agree with Reagan on everything as I do not agree with Hillary on everything. I do appreciate, respect and admire a leader who lets the people who would take a bullet for her/him have Christmas with their families.
December 27, 2009 at 10:24 am
“Carter came into the cockpit once in the two years I was on with him,” James A. Buzzelli, an Air Force One flight engineer, told me. “But [Ronald] Reagan never got on or off without sticking his head in the cockpit and saying, ‘Thanks, fellas,’ or ‘Have a nice day.’ He [Reagan] was just as personable in person as he came across to the public.”
http://newsmax.com/RonaldKessler/jimmy-carter/2008/04/21/id/323476
December 26, 2009 at 1:32 pm
I stumbled across an 1896 item about President Cleveland’s Christmas Day…
http://www.american-presidents.org/2009/12/cleveland-family-christmas.html
“…But he reserved Christmas day only for the pleasure of his daughters. Christmas morning the girls opened their gifts and the president and first lady joined the excited children making merry with their new toys. Christmas at the Cleveland White House, as an Illinois reporter described it in 1896, was a “children’s festival.” …”
December 26, 2009 at 1:40 pm
Again on Reagan:
“Although President Reagan could have spent his White House Christmases with family at his beloved ranch in Santa Barbara, Calif., he instead stayed in Washington, D.C. This way, his sacrifice allowed Secret Service agents and other aides to spend Christmas at home with their families. He was a thoughtful person.”
http://www.bemidjipioneer.com/event/article/id/100014348/group/Opinion/
December 27, 2009 at 10:36 am
I love the next paragraph: Reagan grew up in a desperately poor family. His father was a shoe sales clerk who had trouble keeping a job, partly because he was an alcoholic. “There were very few decorated trees in the years of my growing up,” Reagan said when recalling his childhood. “But never defeated, my mother would with ribbon and crepe paper decorate a table or create a cardboard fireplace out of a packing box. And she always remembered whose birthday it was and made sure we knew the meaning of Christmas.”
December 26, 2009 at 1:49 pm
1969
The Nixons will spend Christmas Day in the Executive Mansion and then fly out to San Clemente for a brief holiday. At the family celebration, Nixon will doubtless sit down at the piano to play his Christmas specialty—Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, the first Christmas song Daughters Tricia and Julie learned to sing. For the first time, however, the entire family will not be together on Christmas. Julie and David Eisenhower are flying—student fare—to Brussels, where David’s father, John, serves as U.S. Ambassador to Belgium.
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,941768,00.html
December 26, 2009 at 1:54 pm
1972 Nixon was in Key Biscayne
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/books/chap1/kissinger.htm
From a book on Kissinger:
Originally he was to have spent Christmas with Nixon in his Florida hideout at Key Biscayne. But the invitation had been withdrawn, or rather curtailed to a two-day working visit from December 20 to 22, to debrief General Alexander Haig (then White House chief of staff) on his recent Saigon trip to see the prickly President Nguyen Van Thieu. The two most powerful men in the United States were undergoing a patch of strained relations. There were various reasons: the Christmas Bombing of Hanoi had led to disagreements among the two over its public image; and, on a more personal level, Nixon had been sorely piqued by a recent interview with the attractive Italian female journalist Oriana Fallaci, where Kissinger had rashly let his hair down. Coupled with Time magazine bracketing the president, and his adviser, as their Man of the Year, it had caused the highly sensitive president, ever seeking a slight, to feel grievously sidelined by his ebullient subordinate. So Nixon spent a solitary Christmas (“the loneliest and saddest Christmas I can ever remember,” he told David Frost, “much sadder and much lonelier than the one in the Pacific during the war”).
December 26, 2009 at 1:58 pm
http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1243&dat=19751226&id=_TUVAAAAIBAJ&sjid=HPgDAAAAIBAJ&pg=3832,2818217
Christmas for the Fords in 1975 was in Vail, Colorado where they were skiing.
December 26, 2009 at 2:00 pm
Ditto for 1974.
http://tvnews.vanderbilt.edu/program.pl?ID=474842
Vail
December 26, 2009 at 2:06 pm
NBC Evening News for
Friday, Dec 24, 1976
——————————————————————————–
Headline: Ford / Vail
Abstract: (Studio) Jimmy Carter eludes cameras and reporters today, but in Vail, Colorado, President Ford much in evidence.
REPORTER: John Chancellor
(Vail, Colorado) [FORD - says 1976 was good year and he's sure Americans will have merry Christmas and happy new year] Ford family Christmas celebrations noted.
REPORTER: John Cochran
Search: Search Vanderbilt Television News Archive for additional items:
Program Time: 05:38:50 pm – 05:40:20 pm. Duration: 01:30
Reporters: Chancellor, John; Cochran, John
Link to this page http://tvnews.vanderbilt.edu/program.pl?ID=486766
Broadcast Type: Evening News Segment Type: News Content
Context:
Record Number: 486766
December 26, 2009 at 2:10 pm
So the latest bit from the Obama camp is that Sasha and Malia are off limits. Off limits?? Again? Nonsense! They are fair game. As was Palin’s children and GWB’s girls. If they pick their nose or scratch their ass in public, its fair game. If they choose to dress like their mother, junior bag ladies with accessories by Auto Zone, its fair game. If they blare their Chris Brown cd’s at the highest decibels and drools over Lil’Wayne magazine covers, its fair game. Can’t allow a double standard now, can we. The obamas can’t have it both ways. Although Barack has seemed to master the art of going both ways now hasn’t he?
December 26, 2009 at 3:09 pm
Love it, love it, love it!
December 26, 2009 at 11:12 pm
I think Sasha and Malia should be off limits because they are so young. They aren’t even teenagers yet, much less adults. However, I do question the Obamas’ decision to allow the girls to answer questions on TV. I don’t remember the Carters doing that with Amy or the Clintons doing that with Chelsea. They appeared on TV from time to time alongside their parents, but they did not speak to the media. I’ve seen a handful of interviews with Jenna Bush, but she was a soon-to-be-married adult at the time.
December 27, 2009 at 2:58 am
That’s so funny, and I agree. Whenever they come over, they wear black throughout their visit. The media fashion police made a comment about Michelle maybe making a visit to one of local clothing outlets, as the Uganda wardrobe works only at Oprah’s girls school.
BTW..the Obama girls are elite snobs. They have that “OMG” here come the maggots” look whenever they see local kids. Big Obama shoos them away, cell phone always attached to the big ear, telling them to give his kids space to eat their silly shave ice. Keep in mind that he has to yell because no one is allowed within a block of them..photo-op turned bad.
Carter and Clinton’s chose not to share their children, their children off limits and they had the right to make that choice and followed through by not using their kids to lend them credibility. The Bush girls were a credit to their parents, but the press stalked them as they became more independent of their parents. The Bush girls are excellent role models..it’s genetic.
Re: Sarah’s Maui visit. What the media failed as usual to report is that she, Todd, Piper and Trig flew commercial domestic carrier (the folks on board fell in love with them),stayed in a friends condo vs major hotel or estate. They were hoping for “special” time with their children but the demented hate Sarah media denied her that precious time. They had the class and heart to know that their presence was causing other friends and visitors to have a less relaxing vacation, so left on the 3rd day.
On the positive side, the Obama’s are being met with polite protesters with signs whenever they leave/return to their poshpad. Some folks are not too happy with the hopey changey thingy. Makes me proud to see 90 yr. olds protesting the war, abortion, healthcare. There is hope yet!!
December 27, 2009 at 9:36 am
I agree that kids should be off limits completely. However, Obamas, true to form, continue to want to have it both ways, regularly serving the kids up front and center. I think it is Michellesmirror MOTUS that calls them the saddest children ever (or something like that!).
December 27, 2009 at 5:52 pm
Amen!!
December 26, 2009 at 2:17 pm
Carter, 1980, Plains, Ga.
http://www.jimmycarterlibrary.org/documents/diary/1980/d122580t.pdf
December 26, 2009 at 2:32 pm
http://www.jimmycarterlibrary.org/documents/diary/1979/d122579t.pdf
Carter, Christmas 1979 at Camp David
December 26, 2009 at 2:43 pm
http://www.nixonlibrary.gov/forresearchers/find/tapes/finding_aids/tapesubjectlogs/wht017.pdf
Nixon made lots of calls from the White House phone on Dec,25, 1971.
December 26, 2009 at 3:00 pm
Bill and Hillary Clinton in 1997 spent Christmas in Sarejevo (per 1998 SOTA address)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/states/docs/sou98.htm
“This Christmas, Hillary and I traveled to Sarajevo with Senator and Mrs. Dole and a bipartisan congressional delegation. We saw children playing in the streets where two years ago they were hiding from snipers and shells. The shops were filled with food, the cafes were alive with conversation.”
December 26, 2009 at 3:14 pm
Now, people. Just settle down. The obama’s are not just people, they are royalty and as royalty they will and must be treated with fawning adoration. Criticism of the obamas is against the law, unconstitutional and full worship and adoration are hereby placed into the constitution of the obamastates of America.
From this point forward, any person, pet or other living thing that dares to speak words of condescension against this holy family will be placed in chains, strung by the neck on the tree of hope, publicly flogged, spat upon, beaten and banished to GITMO.
Signed by executive order on the day of coronation this 20th day of January 2009.
/Didn’t ya’ll get his memo? Hehehee.
December 27, 2009 at 10:53 am
I thought this pic so funny that I posted it at my Webshots
http://entertainment.webshots.com/photo/2709637770056011884VJQGiJ
The motorcycle cop looks so silly “controlling” this tiny group of ten senior citizens, tourists and kids. The AP headline actually calls it a “crowd” ::snort:: Maybe it was the ONLY shot they could find where there were no anti-Obama signs present!
December 27, 2009 at 10:56 am
Oops, I thought I was hooking this as a reply to Maile.
For this one, I wanted to point out the very UNfunny Executive Order Obama signed last week that made it legal for the Interpol office at the Dept of Justice to gather any and all info on Americans and America without us having the slightest recourse. Interpol is hereby exempt from search, seizure, depositions, Freedom of Information Act.
Democrats screamed bloody murder about the Patriot Act. Hello, people! Obama has just signed away our nation’s sovereignty and personal rights as citizens.
December 27, 2009 at 11:21 pm
Chrissy..more entertainment. Here’s the link to the protesters. The compound is next to the Marine Base where they go to the gym, basketball, beach.
“2 Groups Protest At Obama Compound – Honolulu News Story – KITV Honolulu”
The link:
http://www.kitv.com/news/22066294/detail.html?taf=hon
December 26, 2009 at 3:29 pm
1998: In the White house
United Press International
12-24-1998
Clinton busy on Christmas eve
UPI White House Reporter
WASHINGTON, Dec. 24 (UPI) _ Putting the impeachment problems behind him, President Clinton fell into holiday mode on Christmas eve, dividing his time between official duties in the Oval Office and traditional Yuletide chores.
As is their custom, the Clinton family is celebrating Christmas in the White House. But they plan to fly to Hilton Head, N.C., for the annual Renaissance Weekend where they will ring in the new year.
December 26, 2009 at 3:36 pm
Kathy -
Do you have the link for this one? We want it so that on the main page above people can see each item sourced out and not claim we made any of it up as they try to defend the Utopias massive spending sprees.
Thanks
December 26, 2009 at 3:38 pm
http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1P1-19231759.html
December 26, 2009 at 3:39 pm
Ive got Reagan’s diary here and I did not realize that. You are right. he was at wh all 8 christmases. He went to Palm Springs or the Ranch on dec. 27 usually for New Year’s. that was considearte of him to ss and staff.
December 26, 2009 at 3:41 pm
1996 White House
http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1P2-806084.html
The Washington Post | December 26, 1996 | Copyright
White (House) Christmas After a frenetic Christmas Eve that included dinner with Ann and Vernon Jordan, a performance of the Washington Ballet’s “Nutcracker” and services at the Washington National Cathedral, President Clinton and family spent a quiet Christmas at home yesterday. White House guests included first brothers Tony Rodham and Roger Clinton and their families.
(This place just prints snippets of stories…)
December 26, 2009 at 4:21 pm
You didn’t go back to the Johnson administration, but according to the Herbert Hoover Presidential Archive:
Lyndon and Ladybird Johnson spent four of their six presidential Christmases in Texas rather than Washington. Each year it seemed President Johnson faced a different crisis, so he liked to return home to his beloved ranch on the banks of the Pedernalas for Christmas to relax and renew his spirit.
….
The Christmas of 1967 was special for the Johnsons because their daughter, Lynda, was married to Charles Robb in the White House on December 9th with 650 guests in attendance. The celebrating continued during Christmas week and the First Lady decided, over her husband’s objections, that they would spend that Christmas in Washington, the first time in seven years!
The Johnsons final Christmas in the White House in 1968 was a time of reflection for them and the opportunity to say goodbye to their friends. On December 23rd, President Johnson sent Christmas greetings to the American troops in Southeast Asia, which included his two sons-in-law. In Drew Pearson’s syndicated column, he noted that Christmas at the White House for the Johnsons was “not as gay this year as last.”
http://hoover.archives.gov/exhibits/WHChristmas/Johnson/index.html
;-)
December 26, 2009 at 4:25 pm
FYI — Christmas here in Boystown was as gay as ever. Somewhere, we hope Drew Pearson takes comfort in that.
December 26, 2009 at 4:37 pm
If anyone feels like mining it, there could be a ton of info in “Christmas in the White House” by Albert Menendez (thinking he’s not related to the brothers Menendez…) via Google Books: http://tiny.cc/psxOJ
A chapter on “Quiet Christmas” includes a blurb that President Eisenhower spent several hours in his office on Christmas Day 1960.
December 26, 2009 at 5:32 pm
When the President goes to Camp David all the secret service have off as Camp David is protected by one of the military branches. I am not sure which one.
The Bush family always honored the Secret Service this way.
Our current President has to make the job of the Secret Service more difficult all of the time.
December 27, 2009 at 11:44 am
I believe at Camp David it is the Marines who have the honor of protecting and the Navy who gets to cook and serve.
On a personal note … one day a couple years ago, my youngest called, very excited, to tell us she had been invited to go to the White House and greet “Marine One.”
We didn’t know what that meant! LOL I mean … EVERYBODY knows what Air Force One is, right? Well, Marine One is the presidential HELICOPTER which my very own offspring got to go watch land on the South Lawn and debark President GW Bush, who directly came over to warmly greet the small group of young Marines who were there in their brand spankin’ new Dress Blues for the occasion.
My daughter had to have her new uniform fixed up super duper fast at the last minute, because two DAYS before she was scheduled to greet Marine One, she got PROMOTED! :o)
I just realized that, since she’s back from deployment and is finishing her tour with the Corps in a few months, it’s probably safe now for me to post her pics from this day at my Webshots.
http://community.webshots.com/album/576070074LjemLS
December 26, 2009 at 6:03 pm
I don’t know for sure but I would imagine Kennedy spent Christmas in Hyannis Port and they probably had lots of their own security. Also before Kennedy it probably didn’t take as much to keep the President safe and they didn’t have the staff the current Pretenders have.
December 26, 2009 at 6:07 pm
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/09/18/60minutes/rooney/main3272862.shtml
(stupid article.. basically GW was a horrible person for going to Texas…but it states Kennedy’s Christmas vacations)
Kennedy spent both Christmas’s at the family compound in Ma.
December 27, 2009 at 11:59 am
Rooney said, “in four years Jimmy took off only 79 days — and that’s another record for a president. Jimmy was a good sport, too. He played softball with the reporters.”
Yeah, right. First, Carter imposed his isolation in the White House on himself when he declared he wouldn’t leave until all the hostages were freed. Second, there’s loads of evidence that Carter was anything BUT a “good sport.”
Excerpts from “The Real Jimmy Carter” By Ronald Kessler
http://www.newsmax.com/kessler/jimmy_carter/2008/04/21/89639.html
“If the true measure of a man is how he treats the little people, Carter flunked the test. Inside the White House, Carter treated those who helped and protected him with contempt.
“When Carter first came there, he didn’t want the police officers and agents looking at him or speaking to him when he went to the office,” Nelson Pierce, an assistant White House usher, told me for my book “Inside the White House: The Hidden Lives of the Modern Presidents and the Secrets of the World’s Most Powerful Institutions.” “He didn’t want them to pay attention to him going by. I never could understand why. He was not going to the Oval Office without shoes or a robe.”
“We never spoke unless spoken to,” said Fred Walzel, who was chief of the White House branch of the Secret Service Uniformed Division. “Carter complained that he didn’t want them [the officers] to say hello.”
[snip]
Meanwhile, Carter refused to carry out the most important responsibility a president has — to be available to take action in case of nuclear attack. When he went on vacation, “Carter did not want the ‘nuclear football’ at Plains,” a Secret Service agent said (the “nuclear football” is a briefcase used by the president to authorize the use of nuclear weapons when away from fixed command centers). “There was no place to stay in Plains. The military wanted a trailer there. He didn’t want that. So the military aide who carries the football had to stay in Americus,” 10 miles away from Carter’s home in Georgia.
Because of the agreed-upon protocols, in the event of a nuclear attack, Carter could not have launched a counterattack by calling the aide in Americus.
“He would have had to drive 10 miles,” the agent said. “Carter didn’t want anyone bothering him on his property. He wanted his privacy. He was really different.”
[snip]
Bill Gulley, who, as director of the White House military office, was in charge of the operation, confirmed that Carter refused to let the military aide stay near his residence.
“We tried to put a trailer in Plains near the residence for the doctor [who travels with the president] and the aide with the football,” Gulley said. “But Carter wouldn’t permit that. Carter didn’t care at all.”
[snip]
“When he was in a bad mood, you didn’t want to bring him anything,” a former Secret Service agent said. “It was this hunkered down attitude: ‘I’m running the show.’ It was as if he didn’t trust anyone around him. He had that big smile, but when he was in the White House, it was a different story.”
“Carter said, ‘I’m in charge,’” a former Secret Service agent said. “‘Everything is my way.’ He tried to micromanage everything. You had to go to him about playing on the tennis court. It was ridiculous.”
[snip]
Early in his presidency, Carter proclaimed that the White House would be “dry.” Each time a state dinner was held, the White House made a point of telling reporters that no liquor — only wine — would be served.
“The Carters were the biggest liars in the world,” Gulley said. “The word was passed to get rid of all the booze. There can’t be any on Air Force One, in Camp David, or in the White House. This was coming from close associates of the Carter family. I said to our White House military people, ‘Hide the booze, and let’s find out what happens.’ The first Sunday they are in the White House, I get a call from the mess saying, ‘They want bloody marys before going to church. What should I do?’ I said, ‘Find some booze and take it up to them.’”
“We never cut out liquor under Carter,” said Palmer, the chief of the Air Force One stewards. “Occasionally, Carter had a martini,” Palmer said. He also had a Michelob lite. “Rosalynn may have had a drink . . . She had a screwdriver.”
[snip]
After Reagan was inaugurated, GSA discovered that the Carter staff had left garbage in the White House and had trashed furniture in the old Executive Office Building, much as Bill Clinton’s staff trashed the White House before President Bush moved in.
GSA saw “furniture, desks, and file cabinets turned over,” a GSA building manager said. “They shoved over desks. We had to straighten it out. It was 15 or 20 desks in one area. It was enough to look like a cyclone had hit.”
After he was voted out of office, Carter occasionally stayed in the townhouse GSA maintains for former presidents at 1716 Jackson Place. On the walls of the townhouse are photos of former presidents. GSA managers had to check on the premises and found that while Carter was there, Carter would remove the photos of Republican presidents Ford and Nixon and decorate the townhouse with another half-dozen 16-inch by 24-inch photos of himself.
Each time, Charles B. (Buddy) Respass, then the GSA manager over the White House, became irate because GSA had to find the old photos and hang them up again.
December 26, 2009 at 6:54 pm
1995 – White House?
I can’t find specific info on the 25th, but this NYT article from the Proquest database says the president recorded a message to the troops from the oval office on 12/24:
Far-Flung Troops To Hear Clinton
New York Times (1857-Current file).
Dec 25, 1995. p. 10 (1 page)
December 26, 2009 at 7:00 pm
1994 – White House?
President and Chelsea did some last-minute Christmas shopping in D.C. on 12/24:
The President Buys His Last Christmas Gifts
New York Times (1857-Current file).
Dec 25, 1994. p. 26 (1 page)
December 26, 2009 at 7:02 pm
Oh … and the article says Mrs. Clinton is planning a quiet Christmas Eve at home baking chocolate chip cookies and finishing the decorations on the tree.
December 26, 2009 at 7:07 pm
I think someone has the Nixon years covered, but had to share, from Dec 21,1970….Nixon and Elvis !
http://www.elvis-postcards.com/Elvis-Nixon.html
Also realized, my husband was in Vietnam that Christmas. Sigh. Also Bob Hope :) My husband had a rifle company, so they were delegated guard duty on the perimeter of the show, but he was able to send 50 of his Marines to see the show. He stayed with the troops on guard duty.
Just thought I’d share :)
December 26, 2009 at 7:08 pm
1973 (Nixon) – White House then San Clemente on 12/26:
Nixon Flies to Coast on Commercial Airliner; Nixon, After Making Secret Plans, Flies to California on Commercial Jet for Holiday at San Clemente Party Is Divided Sets an Example
By JOHN HERBERSSpecial to The New York Times. New York Times (1857-Current file).
Dec 27, 1973. p. 1 (2 pages)
December 26, 2009 at 7:10 pm
1970 (Nixon) – White House:
Nixons’ Christmas: Quiet, Family Day
New York Times (1857-Current file).
Dec 26, 1970. p. 7 (1 page)
December 26, 2009 at 7:23 pm
I think I’m seeing a trend that the Presidents’ who stay at the White House for Christmas to give the staff time with their families, then head out for New Years, or even later.
I found this article in a 1970 Time mag “bitching” about Nixon’s San Clemente home:
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,902697,00.html
Didn’t he own it? Anyhoo, fun finding some vintage Time-hate. heh.
December 27, 2009 at 12:13 pm
Interesting tidbits from the Time article:
“San Clemente is more a change of scene than a change of pace. He still starts his office appointments at 8:30 a.m., and it is often 6 p.m. before he can get away in his golf cart to the nearby villa.”
“In their overzealousness, the Secret Service at first did not allow surfers to use Cotton Point even when the President was off in Washington. Nixon personally rescinded that restriction.”
BIG difference from Obama and Carter, huh?
December 26, 2009 at 7:23 pm
If you notice the Christmas’s that weren’t spent in the Whitehouse were either spent in homes they already owned or ones that they borrowed from friends…nothing like the 4,000 dollars a night Their Majesties are spending.
December 26, 2009 at 8:01 pm
The Obamas are notoriously bad at managing money. They had money troubles up until he published his first memoir, and even with all the money he earned, they save very little.
They’re profligate with any money they get their hands on, including tax payer money.
December 26, 2009 at 8:19 pm
Didn’t Michelle call the book sales “magic beans”?
http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2009/05/04/2009-05-04_president_obamas_mantra_in_debt_we_trust.html
December 26, 2009 at 8:19 pm
So the Clintons were the ONLY Presidental family who visited the troops on Christmas. And they stayed at the White House, as well.
Good for them. If Hillary were president as she should be this year, she would probably have been in the WH as well…at least we can be sure that she would not renting those mansions and spending all the time playing golf. Just heard on the news that BO is monitoring all that is going on even on the golf course.
YOU BET!
December 26, 2009 at 8:24 pm
The beauty of the Clintons, they were like us. I think they spent their POTUS salary wisely. They became wealthy after they left office, and got second jobs, so-to-speak :D
December 27, 2009 at 3:20 am
Did the Clinton’s have another home? I’ve never heard mention of them having one. Nixon owned the San Clemente property. I used to love seeing Reagan on his horse at his ranch and GW carrying wood for the fireplace riding around in his jeep, so down to earth.
Rumor has it that Obama wants to purchase the poshpad in Kailua..it’s went on the market “real” recently for $9M.
December 26, 2009 at 9:56 pm
I read somewhere that bush went to camp david for christmas because it was staffed by the military and it was staffed 24/7 if the president was there or not. This way white house staff had the day off.
December 26, 2009 at 10:02 pm
I think the critics are being far too hard on the Obama-Fuhrer. After all, he is hard at work in Hawaii saving or creating jobs for countless waiters, cooks, maids and poolboys.
December 26, 2009 at 11:27 pm
Well, duh, why didn’t the rest of us think of that. Probably BO has single handily saved more jobs this Christmas in Hawaii and all that money spend here on the mainland.
Bless his heart, what a prince that Barry is…always thinking of others and putting our country first.
December 27, 2009 at 3:32 am
Not really, he does not spend money here, it costs us to accommodate he and his goon squad. Don’t think a one time purchase of hamburgers and shave ice will keep anyone in a job. Also, the cost to taxpayers for extra security, loss of business due to his caravans. No air tours during the busiest time of year..no he is taking away from the economy. He came a day later than planned and added that day to the end of his vacation, so didn’t lose a day.
Valerie “VanJones” Jarrett & fmly. are with them this time around, probable to do the cooking. he he
December 27, 2009 at 3:55 am
Not really, he does not spend money here, it costs us to accommodate he and his goon squad. Don’t think a one time purchase of hamburgers and shave ice will keep anyone in a job. Also, the cost to taxpayers for extra security, loss of business due to his caravans. No air tours during the busiest time of year..no he is taking away from the economy. He came a day later than planned and added that day to the end of his vacation, so didn’t lose a day.
Valerie “VanJones” Jarrett & fmly. are with them this time around, probably to do the cooking. he he
December 27, 2009 at 9:16 am
You could say the same thing about Tiger Woods. ;)
December 27, 2009 at 12:23 am
I’m guessing it will come as no shock to anyone here that maybe BHO and his couchcover wife aren’t acting in the best interest of the country.
December 27, 2009 at 12:38 am
Just went through Bill Clinton’s My Life for clues. He didn’t say specifically for a few Christmases, but I am deducing that they stayed in DC in 93 (p.565) as he invited his mother there for the holidays and then she was going to the Streisand concert in Vegas.
94 appears to be DC.
95 not really mentioned specifically.
They generally go to Hilton Head over the New Year week to attend the Renaissance conferences.
December 27, 2009 at 12:46 am
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/27/us/politics/27memo.html
From today’s NYT.
KAILUA, Hawaii — Barack Obama is the first president in more than 20 years to escape the confines of the White House and Camp David for Christmas. But when you are commander in chief, the White House has a way of finding you anyway.
For Mr. Obama, coming for Christmas rather than waiting until after the holiday was a break from recent tradition. The last president to leave Washington regularly for Christmas was Jimmy Carter, who went home to Plains, Ga. Both Reagan and Mr. Clinton celebrated Christmas in the White House (except for 1988, when Reagan went to California), while the two Bushes preferred Camp David. Only after the holiday would those presidents leave town for vacations, a schedule that was less disruptive to their staffs and Secret Service agents.
December 27, 2009 at 12:38 pm
This article says Reagan spent Christmas 1988 in California. ??
December 27, 2009 at 1:20 am
4000 bucks a night? Per house? And the expense of getting there? And the carbon footprint? — Oh, man, let them eat cake, I guess. It’s pitiful. What fools they be. What perils they present. But they are, however, quickly uniting the country in a perfect storm of disdain and ridicule — from all sides, for all reasons, for all times. And there’s something warm and toasting about such togetherness, now isn’t there? Yep. There is.
December 27, 2009 at 12:39 pm
Well, they DID say they were going to unite us, didn’t they? LOLOL
December 27, 2009 at 8:17 am
The Obamas don’t think they’re royalty… they think they’re better than royalty. The Queen took the train to her holiday spot this Christmas in rural Britain. Our overlords though took a whole flotilla of Air Force planes, limos, helicopters, aides, etc. to their luxury tropical digs in Hawaii.
Must be nice.
December 27, 2009 at 9:17 am
street trash.
December 27, 2009 at 5:21 pm
Street trash indeed.
December 27, 2009 at 8:23 pm
The Utopias do not believe that there can be too much money spent on them because this country so deserves them. What a freaking disgrace of an example of personal excesses. At the same time, what a freaking example of a waste of my tax dollars to house this bunch!
December 27, 2009 at 9:52 pm
While I’m preaching to the choir here, I should also point out that this man who is so freely spending taxpayer’s hard earned dollars on himself and his family is also the same man who has been preaching that this totally evil so-called healthcare reform bill will save us money, and will save our economy. Shame on the republicans who voted this man into office!
December 28, 2009 at 12:07 am
Here are some:
How Presidents Celebrated Christmas
With the Civil War raging in 1862, Abraham Lincoln spent his second Christmas as President by visiting several of the 46 army hospitals around Washington DC. The wounded soldiers were given roast turkey and chicken pot pies for Christmas dinner. On Christmas Day 1864 President Lincoln received a “gift” from General Sherman; a telegram informing the president of Sherman’s capture of Savannah Georgia. …
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2519531/how_presidents_celebrated_christmas.html?cat=37
Christmas with the Presidents
President George Washington held a Christmas party for Congress, starting with an early morning fox hunt. …
http://blog.heritage.org/2009/12/25/christmas-with-the-presidents/
from above:
Christmas with the Presidents
http://www.wallbuilders.com/LIBissuesArticles.asp?id=19192
Have a good 2010!
December 28, 2009 at 12:48 am
I’m just curious how many times Obama went to Hawaii when his mother and grandparents were alive. I know he went last year for Christmas and the year before that to talk over with his family the prospect of running for President (probably was there to clean-up/ cover-up his record and pay people off) … but did he ever do the normal family thing and visit his family just to visit …and when he had to pay for the trip?
December 28, 2009 at 9:00 am
I swear Michelle told Oprah on her special that they’ve always gone to Hawaii every Christmas….long before he was anybody…lol.