1. Obama has played more golf than any president in history
This isn't even close to being true. Now, there's no question that he plays on a regular basis: 104 rounds from January 2009 through Aug. 4 of this year, the last time he played, according to Mark Knoller, the longtime White House correspondent for CBS Radio. That puts him about in the middle when compared with other duffers-in-chief. It's less than Bill Clinton, and a lot less than Dwight Eisenhower, who played more than 800 rounds over eight years four times as often as Obama plays.
And why is it an outrage if the president, who heads one of three branches of government, golfs 104 times in three-and-a-half-years, but the head of another branch of government, the Speaker of the House, plays four times as much? You heard correctly: John Boehner once told Golf Digest that he plays upwards of 100 rounds a year. Seems like a double standard, no?
2. Obama has taken more vacation time than any president in history
This isn't even remotely accurate either, but first, some context from Nancy Reagan: "Presidents don't get vacations they just get a change of scenery. The job goes with you." The responsibilities, the pressure, the officer with the "nuclear football" it's all with a commander-in-chief at all times. No exceptions.
But how much time away from the White House has President Obama spent, and how does this compare with predecessors?
POTUS Tracker, compiled by The Washington Post, shows that from January 2009 to October 31, 2012, Obama spent all or part of 72 vacation days in a variety of places, mostly Hawaii in the winter and Martha's Vineyard in the summer. That's about 10 weeks away in three-and-a-half years, hardly extravagant. Through May 18, according to data from CBS's Knoller, he also visited Camp David 22 times, spending all of part of 54 days there.
What about his predecessors?
· In 1798, President John Adams left the capital for seven months to care for his ailing wife Abigail; his enemies said he practically relinquished his office.
· Thomas Jefferson and James Madison routinely went away for three- and four-month stretches.
· Abraham Lincoln, during the Civil War, was blasted for spending about 25 percent of his time away from the White House.
· Dwight Eisenhower took long summer breaks in Denver and spent almost every single weekend at Camp David.
· John F. Kennedy rarely spent a weekend in the White House, staying at family homes in Palm Beach, Hyannis Port, and the Virginia countryside.
· Lyndon Johnson spent 484 days in five and a half years at his Texas ranch.
· Ronald Reagan was away for 436 days, usually at Rancho del Cielo (his mountaintop retreat in California) or Camp David.
· Bill Clinton, who didn't own a vacation home, loved to party with his elite friends in Martha's Vineyard and the Hamptons.
· George W. Bush spent 32 months at his ranch (490 days) or Camp David (487 days) an average of four months away every year.
