Joe Biden escaped his White House ‘gilded cage’ at a faster pace than Trump

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Sixty -nine of the 108 days away from Washington were spent at his home in Wilmington, spread over 23 visits; seven days in his Robboth Beach, Delaware, beach house more than two visits; and 32 days at Camp David over 10 visits.

Typically, his chopper commute from the White House to his home in Wilmington takes less than an hour, and a White House official said many of the partial days include Biden leaving the White House in finishing a normal workday on a Friday or returning to Washington before starting a workday on a Monday.

This puts Biden ahead of the pace set by former President Donald Trump, who spent less time on his Florida and New Jersey getaways at the same point of his presidency than Biden spent in Delaware.

Comparison of Biden and his predecessors

While most presidents prioritize taking time off 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, this is the most time a president has spent away from the White House on personal travel to this point of the presidency in recent history.

In comparison, Trump spent all or part of 61 days at either of his Mar-a-Lago or Bedminster properties in Florida and New Jersey, respectively, at the same time, with all or part of the nine days on four visits to Camp David. Trump has also visited other Trump-branded properties, including his Virginia golf club and Trump Tower in New York, nearly 100 times at this point in his office hours.

At the same point of his presidency, former President Barack Obama, who had children of school age during his term, took three vacation trips covering all or part of 15 days, according to CBS News president and veteran record keeper Mark Knoller, including a visit to his Chicago home, a trip to Yellowstone National Park in Montana with his family and a week -long escape to Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts. Obama spent all or part of the 25 days at Camp David of more than ten visits at this point, Knoller said.

And then President George W. Bush, per Knoller’s record, took seven trips to Crawford, Texas, spending 27 full or partial days at his family’s Prairie Chapel Ranch in the first months of his presidency, and 19 visiting Camp David over 57 full or partial days, for a total of 84 full or partial days in Texas or at Camp David.

Other presidents also made a point to escape the boundaries of the White House: George HW Bush spent time in Kennebunkport, Maine, during his presidency; Lyndon Johnson also traveled to his Texas ranch; Franklin Roosevelt often flew to Warm Springs, Georgia; Ronald Reagan visited his “Western White House” in Goleta, California; Richard Nixon went to La Casa Pacifica in California; John F. Kennedy moved away from Hyannis Port, Massachusetts; and Harry Truman spent a portion of his presidency in Key West, Florida, while the White House was being reorganized.

A ‘gilded cage’

The Covid-19 pandemic internally changed the work habits of white-collar workers, with many Americans adopting more flexible schedules and avoiding cutting five days per week to instead work from home. The White House doubles as the President’s workplace and home, but Biden can work remotely in secure communications equipment and facilities wherever he travels, and does so.

“The Presidents of the United States are constantly at work, regardless of their location; whether on a state visit abroad or just 100 miles from the White House for a short trip to Wilmington,” a White House spokesman said. that Andrew Bates on CNN.

Bates added, “Wherever he is, the President spends every day working to defeat the pandemic, to make sure our economy serves for the middle class – not just those at the top – and to protect our national security. Also, as all Americans can agree, it is important for leaders to avoid being ensconced in Washington, DC. “

In presidency after presidency, former presidents often lamented the restrictions on home life in the White House, which Truman called “great white prison” and Michelle Obama referred to as “a really good prison, “that it is not uncommon for a president to seek a break from more familiar digging.

“Even in the residence on the second and third floors, the president and his family are rarely alone. They often hear the chanting of protesters in Lafayette Park across the street. During the Vietnam War, Luci and Lynda heard it. Bird Johnson from their bedrooms, “said Kate Andersen Brower, a CNN contributor and author of” Team Five: The Presidents Club in the Trump Era. “

Brower added, “There’s a claustrophobia that accompanies the territory. People come in and out for tours (in the hours before Covid) and reporters work not far from the Oval Office.”

Biden has expressed similar feelings ever since he took office. “I said when I was running, I wanted to be President not to live in the White House but to be able to decide about the future of the country,” Biden said four weeks into his presidency at a CNN Town Hall.

He continued, “And so living in the White House, as you’ve heard other presidents who have been overly flattered to live there, have – it’s like a golden cage in terms of the ability to walk outside and make thing. “

Pressured by Biden’s predilection for leaving town, White House press secretary Jen Psaki defended her boss.

“Because it’s his home. You want to go home, don’t you? So is the President. He’s also human,” Psaki told reporters at a briefing in August.

And in early March as Covid-19 cases remained high and the vaccination program intensified, Psaki was asked if Biden should do more to provide an example of personal travel during the pandemic.

“So, the President lives in Wilmington. It’s his home. He lived there for many, many years. And as you know, like any President of the United States, he makes a private plane called the Air Force “One to travel there. That’s, of course, a unique one – unique from most Americans, but I think most Americans see that as a unique event,” he said.

Away from Washington

While in Wilmington, Biden spends time with his family, including first lady and grandchildren, but he also uses his home as a place of work.

“Even the president is affected by the new pandemic white-collar lifestyle of working from home, wherever it may be,” Brower said.

He added, “The Oval Office is no longer just referring to physical space, the president has really been everywhere. And that’s the case for a lot of people who have the luxury of working remotely.”

Both in or away from the West Wing, Biden, a White House official told CNN, who “continues to venture with staff, who have been briefed on the economy and national security, talking to lawmakers to advance his legislative agenda, and more. ” Modern technology, the official added, makes it “easier than ever” for a president to fully do the job from anywhere, with many staff working remotely at the start of the administration.

Biden usually attends mass every Saturday or Sunday while in town, and he plays nearly a dozen rounds of golf at nearby Fieldstone Golf Club. He stopped at a local coffee shop, Brew Ha Ha! earlier this month with his grandchildren.

Earlier this month, she and the first lady traveled to her sister’s nearby home for a “little family wedding” of her niece Cuffe Owens, to Meghan O’Toole King, a former member of the cast of Real Housewives of Orange County. He also spent some time in the area on more routine tasks, such as seeing a doctor for a follow-up visit after a foot injury.

Biden receives virtual briefings from his team while away from the White House, per his public schedule, and regularly travels with senior staff for both domestic and national security policy, White House Communications military personnel Agency, and other aids, the White House official said.

Biden, the official added, “often interacts with a broad spectrum of other staff to keep progress on all the issues he’s working on in a week.”

The cost of escape

No matter how close or far away, there are always taxpayer resources that occur when a president travels.

“There’s a significant level of cost to the taxpayer any time the president leaves the White House grounds, just for a local stop in Washington, DC, or an overnight in Delaware,” said Jonathan Wackrow, a former agent. of the U.S. Secret Service and CNN law enforcement analyst.

Those costs include travel and lodging for the Secret Service as agents, officers, and technical professionals descend on the President’s destination. There is secure communication infrastructure installed by military personnel. Local law enforcement and other public safety entities, including the fire department and emergency medical services (EMS), are deployed when a president visits. There are also transportation considerations, Wackrow said, including Marine One and the support structure, fuel, engine considerations and aircraft security.

Whoever is in office, and wherever they go, Wackrow said, “There’s a big bubble moving in the president. The reason it’s so big is because you can’t have any disruption to his ability to respond in a moment of crisis – it needs to be equal to all the resources in Washington. “

Biden’s trips to Camp David, which is a permanent military installation, were less resourceful, however, because the president’s retreat was fortified and supported by the military.

“The infrastructure has been built – Camp David has built in SCIFs, it has built -in presidential emergency centers, it has all the resources that you normally carry temporarily, they have built Camp David permanently, “Wackrow said.

CNN’s Kate Bennett contributed to this report.

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