Setting Records Straight
Bush’s long vacations are more than a curiosity: They play into diametrically opposite arguments about this leadership style. To critics and late-night comics, they symbolize a lackadaisical approach to the world’s most important day job, an impression bolstered by Bush’s periodic two-hour midday exercise sessions and his disinclination to work nights or weekends. The more vociferous among Bush’s foes have noted that he spent a month at the ranch shortly before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, when critics assert he should have been more attentive to warning signs.
To Bush and his advisers, that criticism fundamentally misunderstands his Texas sojourns. Those who think he does not remain in command, aides say, do not understand the modern presidency or Bush’s own work habits. At the ranch, White House officials say, Bush continues to receive daily national security briefings, sign documents, hold teleconferences with aides and military commanders, and even meet with foreign leaders. And from the president’s point of view, the long Texas stints are the best way to clear his mind and reconnect with everyday America.
I’m pretty much guaranteed to try this at work. Couple hours to clear my head in the middle of the day, then five consecutive weeks off when I really need to decompress.
