If it's a sunny weekend in Washington, chances are a motorcade will be leaving the White House for the golf course. President Obama typically golfs with the same small circle of friends and aides. One of his rules for a day on the course: No talking politics.
That changes Saturday. House Speaker John Boehner is joining the president for 18 holes. Vice President Biden and Republican Gov. John Kasich of Ohio are also coming along, turning this particular game into a much anticipated "golf summit."
Horse racing may be the "sport of kings," but when it comes to presidents, they play golf.
"It is the most popular sport that presidents play. Fifteen of the last 18 American presidents were golfers, starting with William Howard Taft," New York Times correspondent Don Van Natta Jr. says. He wrote a book about presidential golfers called First Off the Tee.
"I think presidents love the camaraderie they find out on the links," Van Natta says. "They also like the fact that they can leave the press and the public behind on the first tee — and they don't have to see them again until the 18th green."
A Game Of Politics
Occasionally a president doesn't leave the press behind, sometimes with disastrous results.
President George W. Bush no doubt wishes he could take a mulligan on a moment from 2002, after a suicide bombing in Israel.
"I call upon all nations to do everything they can to stop these terrorist killers. Thank you. Now watch this drive," he said, thwacking the ball.
Years later, Bush told an interviewer that he gave up golf during his presidency. He said during a war it sends the wrong signal.
Obama has not had the same concern. Still, Van Natta says, this president is less avid on the course than other wartime commanders in chief.
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