President Bush to Spend Much of His Month-Long Vacation Enjoying Peace and Quiet of His 1600-acre Texas Ranch

President Bush to Spend Much of His Month-Long Vacation Enjoying Peace and Quiet of His 1600-acre Texas Ranch

by Terry Moran
ABC World News Tonight
August 3, 2001

ELIZABETH VARGAS, anchor:

At the White House today, President Bush gathered his Cabinet to mark what he called "six months of accomplishments." The president starts a month-long vacation tomorrow, the longest of any president since Richard Nixon. ABC's Terry Moran reports now from the White House. President GEORGE W. BUSH: Good afternoon. The vice president and I...

TERRY MORAN reporting:

(VO) Mr. Bush described his time off as an escape from the cloistered world of Washington.

Pres. BUSH: I'm headed home to the heartland to listen to the American people and to talk about the values that unite and sustain our country.

MORAN: (VO) The president will be spending most of his time on his 1600-acre ranch near Crawford, Texas, where it's very hot, very dry, and very, very quiet. And that's the way George W. Bush likes it.

Mr. ARI FLEISCHER (White House Press Secretary): He'll do a little fishing on the ranch. I'm sure he'll have friends and family over to the ranch. He'll do a little policy. He'll keep up with events.

MORAN: (VO) Unlike many of his fellow baby boomers, Mr. Bush is no workaholic. Reporters who covered him when he was governor of Texas grew familiar with his laid-back approach.

Mr. WAYNE SLATER (Dallas Morning News): George Bush was religious about wanting to take time off.

MORAN: (VO) In that, Mr. Bush is like many other presidents.

President RONALD REAGAN: (From file footage) Well, there's nothing like being in the saddle all day.

Mr. MICHAEL BESCHLOSS (Historian): There's almost no relationship between the number of hours you sit behind the desk in the Oval Office and how good a president you are.

MORAN: (VO) And in the 21st Century, as President Bush has already learned, no president really gets away.

Pres. BUSH: The amazing thing about this job, you know, is the job seems to follow you around.

MORAN: In Texas, the president will get a daily intelligence briefing, and he's planning one or two side trips a week just to keep in the public eye, but mostly, it seems, he'll do what most Americans do on vacation: nothing much. Terry Moran, ABC News, the White House.

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