In Case You Were Wondering

Here are some revealing data a friend sent me. I have to say, this doesn't surprise me in the least. Just think what kind of shape we'd be in if George W. Bush had not loafed for a third of his time in the White House.

Here's the tally on George W. Bush's vacation time while he was in office:

Number Of Visits To His Texas Ranch: 77, totaling all or part of 490 days
Number Of Visits To His Parents' Home In Kennebunkport, Maine: 11, totaling all or part of 43 days
Number Of Flights On Air Force One: 1,674
(Source: Presidential Airlift Group)

Veteran CBS News White House correspondent Mark Knoller, a fastidious keeper of presidential statistics, has kept count. By his tally, Obama has embarked on nine "vacations" since taking office, bringing his total days off to 48. Some of those trips lasted a day and some, like his Christmas holiday in Hawaii, more than a week.

By comparison, Bush had visited his ranch in Crawford, Tex., 14 times at this point in his administration and spent 115 days there. And yes, Democrats let him have it, too, complaining that he was a chronic vacationer.

Here are the stats on recent presidenti­al vacation time:

George W. Bush eight year totals:
487 days at Camp David
490 days at Crawford Ranch
43 days at Kennebunkp­ort Compound
Total: 1020 days, more than 1/3rd of his presidency­. 

Bush set the record for most vacation time taken by any president.

Carter took 79 days in 4 years.
Clinton took 152 days in 8 years.
Reagan took 335 days in 8 years.
Bush Sr. took 543 days in 4 years!

In their first year in office:
Obama - 26 days
Clinton - 19 days
George W. Bush - 69 days