McClellan on the 'working' vacation: 'Feeding the media beast'

In researching presidential vacations and efforts by the White House to portray a vacationing president as nevertheless on the job, the subject of a Countdown to Crawford post on Monday, we corresponded with former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan.

He was on duty during the president's first extended visit to Crawford during the summer of 2001.

He offered his thoughts -- some drawn from his book "What Happened" -- about why a White House staff goes to the extent it does to create the aura of business-as-usual during a president's out-of-town downtime, and how it does so.

Here is McClellan's e-mail:

The vacationing president narrative is a convenient and potentially damaging one for critics to try and push, and one that in the day of 24/7 cable news you have to be cognizant of. If it takes hold it can help create a lasting impression in some people's minds. Katrina is a prime example. I wrote about the image of the president strumming the guitar he was given backstage in San Diego following the 60th Anniversary event for V-J Day being transposed with images of people being rescued off the hoods of cars or rooftops in New Orleans. The image could not be erased in some people's minds. Georgia is another to a lesser extent as images of the president hitting the volleyball at the Olympics were transposed with images of the unfolding crisis in Georgia.

We were cognizant of it from the very beginning, including his first extended August stay in Crawford back in 2001. I remember briefing the press corp and defining it as a "working vacation." We made sure the press corps knew the president was tending to official business and released White House photos of the president meeting early in the morning with staff. The president's first prime time address was held during that "vacation," when he made his stem cell announcement.

It is true that a president in this day and age is never entirely on vacation. I think most Americans recognize that, but it is still important to visually show the president duly engaged. Wherever he goes, including Crawford, the White House picks up and moves along with him -- or at least a skeletal staff. He continues to stay in constant contact with senior advisers, participates in his usual morning intelligence briefings on a daily basis and is kept apprised of events and situations as warranted, including participating in secure video-conferences with his national security team or others, such as homeland security advisers when it comes to natural disasters.

It does not take much to demonstrate the president is remaining engaged in his official duties while on vacation. It can be simple things such as photo releases of meetings to readouts of his official activities of the day, including world leader calls or briefings on developing situations of concern, to more formal press availabilities. It is part of feeding the media beast and making sure that the public sees and hears about the president tending to business in order to preemptively counter charges of a vacationing president carefree and unconcerned about current events that are unfolding or may later unfold.

-- James Gerstenzang

Photo credit: Agence France-Presse