Does President Obama Golf More Than Any Other President?
This week, while on vacation in Hawaii for the holidays, President Obama reached a presidential milestone. He has hit the links 90 times while in office. But, is this unusual for a US president?
For decades, presidential golf outings, and the feathers they ruffle on the other side of the aisle, have been a pillar of American politics. Obama is not the first president to receive criticism for the amount of time he spends on the golf course.
In the ’50s, Democrats criticized President Eisenhower for his golf hobby while the nation was dealing with the early years of the Cold War. And, even at the rate he’s going, President Obama won’t come close to the surprising 800 rounds of golf Eisenhower played during his eight years in office.
However, the award for most rounds of golf played during a presidency goes to Woodrow Wilson. who, under doctor’s orders, played most days and logged nearly 1,600 rounds of golf during his eight-year run in the White House.
Obama is likely to keep catching flak for his time on the links, but that doesn’t make him any different than any other president. His predecessor even received a lashing from filmmaker Michael Moore in the documentary ‘Fahrenheit 9/11’ for spending 42 percent of the first eight months he was in office on vacation, often golfing.