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Presidential Retreats

Presidents have found different ways to escape the pressures and politics of the position. For early leaders, it was a matter of course they would leave the White House for the summer to tend to a personal businesses or farms. The modern-day presidency is a year-round job. So while the work often follows, the countryside of Virginia or seaside of Maine can provide a better backdrop for writing speeches or drafting policy — and spending quality time with family and friends.

A Time for Leisure

Presidential Vacations Through the Years

Vacationing with the Commander-in-Chief

The Floating White House

A Brief History of Presidential Yachts

Rapidan Camp

President Hoover's Mountain Retreat

A Journey Into Nowhere

How President Harry S. Truman's Planned Work Trip Up the East Coast Turned into a Vacation Crusie to Bermuda — With the Press Corps in Tow

Gettysburg and Antietam

John F. Kennedy's Visit to the Civil War Battlefields of Gettysburg and Antietam.

Indelible Vacation

President Coolidge's Trip to the Black Hills

President Truman's "Little White House"

Ranch in the Heavens

President Reagan's Rancho del Cielo retreat just outside Santa Barbara, California

Away From the White House

Purchase Our Illustrated History of Presidential Retreats