How Trump's daily White House schedule full of 'executive time' compares to Obama, Bush, and Clinton
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Feb 5, 2019, 02:14 IST
Former President Bill Clinton typically started his days around 9 a.m., meeting his chief of staff in the Oval Office.
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Clinton would also frequently kick off the day with a long early morning jog, sometimes to McDonald's.
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Typically, Clinton spent most of his day in the Oval, reading policy briefings, meeting with staff, and making phone calls.
Clinton was known to be un-punctual. He was apparently fairly unpredictable and quite a night owl, but still had a lot of structure to most of his days in the White House. He'd work long days and sleep around five hours a night.
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Former President George W. Bush lived by a very strict schedule, waking up at roughly 5:15 a.m. most days.
Normally, Bush would start off his day drinking coffee and catching up on the news with former First Lady Laura Bush.
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Bush aimed to arrive at the Oval Office by 6:45 a.m. most days and typically had his first meeting by 8:15 a.m.
Bush would finish the workday early in the evening, around 5:30 or 6 p.m., and then used the rest of his day to workout, eat dinner, and catch up on any briefing materials. He was typically in bed by around 9 p.m.
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Former President Barack Obama had a strict schedule like Bush but was also known to work extremely late, much like Clinton.
Most days, Obama headed to the Oval Office around 9 a.m. and usually had six meetings scheduled throughout the workday in addition to intelligence and economy briefings.
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Obama would wake early and start his day with a workout.
President Donald Trump's daily schedule differs significantly from his predecessors. A recent analysis of months of Trump's private schedule, which was leaked, suggests roughly 60% of his time is unstructured.
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According to the analysis, Trump typically wakes up early – around 6 a.m. – and spends the first five hours of his day in unstructured "Executive Time."
The White House schedule places Trump in the Oval Office from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m., but the president is rarely actually in his office during that time, according to what sources told Axios. Instead, Trump reportedly spends that time in the residence tweeting, watching television, making phone calls, and reading the news.
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Trump's first official meeting of the day, usually an intelligence briefing, is typically around 11 or 11:30 a.m.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders defended Trump's unorthodox schedule. In a statement to Axios, she said, "President Trump has a different leadership style than his predecessors and the results speak for themselves."
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Sanders added, "While he spends much of his average day in scheduled meetings, events, and calls, there is time to allow for a more creative environment that has helped make him the most productive President in modern history."
Sanders also claimed that Trump's morning is usually a mix of Oval Office and residence time.
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Trump's book, "The Art of the Deal," appears to offer some insight into why he seemingly prefers less structure in his day. He wrote, "Most people are surprised by the way I work. I play it very loose. I don’t carry a briefcase. I try not to schedule too many meetings. I leave my door open. You can’t be imaginative or entrepreneurial if you’ve got too much structure. I prefer to come to work each day and just see what develops."