--- title: How Presidents Take Vacation description: As Obama kicks off his Martha's Vineyard vacation, TIME looks at other presidential destinations. Fishing, golfing, time at the beach...in short, pretty much like the rest of us canonical: https://time.com/3087914/how-presidents-take-vacation/ author: TIME Photo article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-08-08T13:58:17.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:07:56.351Z article:section: Politics og:title: How Presidents Take Vacation og:description: As Obama kicks off his Martha's Vineyard vacation, TIME looks at other presidential destinations. Fishing, golfing, time at the beach...in short, pretty much like the rest of us og:url: https://time.com/3087914/how-presidents-take-vacation/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt63b918b9dfe62805/69869eb0e53abafa774d3e77/pres-vaca8.jpg?branch=production&width=610&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 610 og:image:height: 343 og:image:alt: pres-vaca8 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How Presidents Take Vacation twitter:description: As Obama kicks off his Martha's Vineyard vacation, TIME looks at other presidential destinations. Fishing, golfing, time at the beach...in short, pretty much like the rest of us twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt63b918b9dfe62805/69869eb0e53abafa774d3e77/pres-vaca8.jpg?branch=production&width=610&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # How Presidents Take Vacation > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [TIME Photo](https://time.com/author/time-photo/) ## TIME Photo Aug 8, 2014 1:58 PM UTC  JFK began competitive sailing in his youth. The president often snuck away for a bit of solitude on the Honey Fitz, his 92-foot power yacht on the Potomac. But being a talented sailor, his favorite was the Manitou, a 62-foot sailing yacht he first spotted as a young senator. As president he sent a naval aide to find a suitable yacht that could house the communications equipment he would need to stay in touch with the White House and Kremlin, and the Manitou fit the bill. Signing the deed on the boat was one of his first acts at the presidential desk. JFK began competitive sailing in his youth. The president often snuck away for a bit of solitude on the Honey Fitz, his 92-foot power yacht on the Potomac. But being a talented sailor, his favorite was the Manitou, a 62-foot sailing yacht he first spotted as a young senator. As president he sent a naval aide to find a suitable yacht that could house the communications equipment he would need to stay in touch with the White House and Kremlin, and the Manitou fit the bill. Signing the deed on the boat was one of his first acts at the presidential desk. Robert Leroy Knudsen—National Archives by [TIME Photo](https://time.com/author/time-photo/) ## TIME Photo Aug 8, 2014 1:58 PM UTC  Obama tends to take a winter break in Hawaii, where he was born and raised, and a summer vacation in Martha's Vineyard. In between, he plays basketball and has been known to do some skeet shooting at Camp David. His favorite pastime, no matter the location, has become easy to spot: golf. Jim Watson—AFP/Getty Images  Fishing is in the Bush family DNA: for blues off the coast of Maine or anything with fins, almost anywhere else. George W. Bush relaxed as president by jogging and clearing brush on his Texas ranch near Waco. Since leaving office, he has become an avid mountain biker and, more recently, has taken up painting. Charles Ommanney—Getty Images  Clinton was never much good at vacationing. His staff had to practically force him to go on vacation his first year in office; his idea of relaxing was reading books while enjoying a cigar (chewed, not smoked). He sometimes played golf, but his somewhat elastic interpretation of the rules could drive his partners crazy. Bob McNeely—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Vice President George Bush tries to catch a fish in August, 1983 in Kennebunkport, Maine. The small town would sometimes be clogged with traffic when Bush, as Vice President and later as President, would visit, reporters in tow. Cynthia Johnson—Getty Images  "There is nothing so good for the inside of a man than the outside of a horse." That's what Nancy Reagan liked to say about why her husband often liked to go horseback riding while on vacation as his ranch near Santa Barbara, California. Above, the 'horse' was a riding mower. Reagan Foundation  President Ford and First Lady Betty chose Mauna Kea Beach, Hawaii on the Big Island for a getaway vacation in 1974, but they couldn’t escape the prying eyes of the press. Here, the president, a former All American football player at Michigan, turned his movie camera on a familiar photographer. David Hume Kennerly—Getty Images  Johnson preferred his 2,700 acre Texas Hill country ranch to posh resorts, and he hosted guests there year-round. He owned 400 head of cattle and delighted in playing cowboy for visiting dignitaries. He also took guests for a ride in his tricked out amphibious car, surprising them by turning off road and into a pond. Bettmann/Corbis  Johnson relaxes in his pool with his grandson Lyn and the First Family's new dog, Yuki, in 1968. Yoichi Okamoto—Corbis  JFK began competitive sailing in his youth. The president often snuck away for a bit of solitude on the Honey Fitz, his 92-foot power yacht on the Potomac. But being a talented sailor, his favorite was the Manitou, a 62-foot sailing yacht he first spotted as a young senator. Robert Leroy Knudsen—National Archives  In 1928, Calvin and Grace Coolidge spent their last presidential Thanksgiving at a beautiful Italianate villa, the Swannanoa Country Club, near Rockfish Gap on the summit of the Blue Ridge mountains in Virginia. The palatial mansion reportedly pleased the first lady. AP  FDR's polio limited his vacation options. He began visiting Warm Springs, Georgia in 1924 for its curative waters and later built a 2000 acre polio treatment center nearby. He liked to cruise the Potomac on the presidential yacht and three times as President returned to Campobello, in New Brunswick, Canada. Bettmann/Corbis  Clinton, his daughter Chelsea, center, and wife Hillary walk with Buddy from the White House toward a helicopter as they depart for vacation en route to Martha's Vineyard, Mass. Robert A. 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