Trump spends almost every weekend at one of his properties, from Mar-a-Lago to Bedminster - here's how other presidents compare

Brennan Weiss

Mar 11, 2018, 22:50 IST

Trump spends almost every weekend at one of his properties, from Mar-a-Lago to Bedminster - here's how other presidents compare

President Donald Trump works from his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida.

Washington can be a tough town, where scandals abound and never-ending political drama rules the day.

Perhaps the hustle and bustle of life in the US capital takes a greater toll on nobody more than the president.

"Over the years, presidents struggle so hard to get to the White House and then they're almost desperate to get away from the place once they're there," journalist Kenneth Walsh said during an interview in 2009.

Vacations and weekend getaways help US presidents cope with the pressures of leading the country. John F. Kennedy frequented Hyannis Port in Massachusetts. Ronald Reagan had a ranch in California. And President Donald Trump has a golf course in New Jersey and his famous Mar-a-Lago private resort in Florida.

Here's how some US presidents vacationed as compared to Trump:

Abraham Lincoln’s preferred hideaway was a mansion-sized “cottage” that was only four miles from the White House. It served as a useful retreat during the summer to escape the oppressive heat of downtown Washington.

Teddy Roosevelt's "Summer White House" in Sagamore Hill, New York, served as an ideal location for the president to enjoy the outdoors, away from Washington.

Roosevelt was a prominent conservationist who laid the groundwork for the establishment of many of America's national monuments, forests, and parks.

Calivin Coolidge had a variety of vacation spots, including the Black Hills in South Dakota, Massachusetts, upstate New York, and his hometown of Plymouth Notch, Vermont.

A year before leaving office, Coolidge and his wife spent three months at a lodge in Brule Wisconsin. The president spent most of his time fishing and shooting clay pigeons.

When Franklin Delano Roosevelt needed time away the pressures of wartime in Washington, he ventured to his estate called "Springwood" in Hyde Park, New York. Roosevelt often hosted foreign dignitaries at the home and devised domestic political strategies there with his aides.

During the winter, Roosevelt often stayed at his vacation home in Warm Springs, Georgia. He built the home, which was nicknamed "Little White House," after first visiting the area in 1924 in search of polio treatment. He loved swimming in the 88-degree, natural spring waters nearby.

Roosevelt also spent a great deal of time at sea. In his first year in office, the president went on a cruise vacation aboard the Amberjack II. He also had an official presidential yacht, which he frequently used for fishing expeditions and entertaining guests.

John F. Kennedy's family home in Hyannis Port on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, was the president's "emotional center," where he often found "inspiration" amid the many national crises that he was faced with.

JFK was often pictured relaxing on the beach or sailing with his wife. "I always go to Hyannis Port to be revived, to know again the power of the sea," Kennedy once said.

La Casa Pacifica — formerly dubbed the "Western White House" — was Richard Nixon's popular getaway destination while in office. After resigning in the wake of the Watergate scandal, Nixon retreated to the home to write his memoir.

Ronald Reagan and his wife, Nancy, spent much of their vacation time at their private ranch in Santa Barbara, California. Rancho del Cielo, as Reagan called it, "cast a spell over us," the president said. "No place before or since has ever given Nancy and me the joy and serenity it does.”

George W. Bush made 77 separate trips to his Prairie Chapel Ranch in small-town Crawford, Texas. In total, he spent about 490 of his 2,922 days in office at the ranch.

Bush often went biking, jogging, fishing, and hunting there.

Barack Obama spent nearly every summer vacation on Martha's Vineyard, where he was often seen golfing, biking, and spending time with his family.

During the winter holidays, Obama often spent time in Kailua on the island of Oahu in his native state of Hawaii.

Obama wasn't the only president to frequent Martha's Vineyard. Ulysses S. Grant, John F. Kennedy, and Bill Clinton also spent significant time there.

Donald Trump's opulent Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida is one of his favorite places to go. In his first full year in office, Trump spent 58 days at the resort, which he has nicknamed the "Winter White House."

Trump has used the property for campaign events and official meetings with world leaders, including Chinese President Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Trump's frequent travel to his resort has sparked criticism over how much it has cost taxpayers. But historian Douglas Brinkley told CNN in 2010 that "criticism's always been there" when presidents take vacations. It's a time-honored American tradition.

Next Story A massive, freak lightning strike killed 16 people and injured 140 others at a church in Rwanda