Updated February 4, 2021 936 votes 140 voters21 items
Voting Rules
Vote for the vacation spot that you wouldn't mind traveling to
Presidential vacations are a tricky thing. Instead of being able to go anywhere they want, the leader of the free world needs to go somewhere they can handle a crisis, be safe and secure, and look both outdoorsy and relaxed. Optics matter, but being able to house hundreds of staff members, Secret Service agents, and media members matters more. Oh, and having a good time is nice, too. So presidents tend to go to the same places over and over - small towns or resorts where they can escape brutal Washington D.C. winters and suffocating politics while still getting done what needs to get done.
Every US president has had somewhere they called home when they weren't in the White House. From George Washington's sprawling Mount Vernon in Virgina to Barack Obama's hometown of Kailua, presidential vacation spots don't seem to have much in common. Some are huge coastal mansions, others are isolated getaways in the middle of nowhere. A few are famous tourist destinations like Palm Springs, Martha's Vineyard, and Vail, while others, like Lyndon Johnson's ranch or Teddy Roosevelt's windswept mansion in a town with 200 people, barely exist on a map.
But all have become legendary as the preferred vacation spots of various Presidents of the United States. Where do presidents go on vacation days? Here are 20 of the most well-known places presidents on vacation kick their feet up. You can actually visit most of these spots, but only as a tourist.
President George H. W. Bush vacationed almost exclusively at his seaside home in this small Maine community. He fished, walked on the beach, and hobnobbed with locals.
President Harry Truman made Key West his "Little White House," spending every winter of his presidency in a converted officer's quarters there - almost half a year in total. Other Presidents who spent time in Key West include William Howard Taft, Dwight Eisenhower, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and John F. Kennedy.
Barack Obama famously spends several weeks every winter in his hometown of Kailua, on Honolulu. But he's far from the only president to vacation in the 50th state. Bill Clinton vacationed there in 1993, but left early to inspect flood damage in the Midwest.
Worried about the optics of vacationing on Martha's Vineyard, President Clinton spent two vacations in the Grand Tetons. But he didn't care for the outdoor lifestyle, and park officials found his presence to be disruptive. So back to the Vineyard he went.
