Comfortable enough for the most cherished frequent flier on Air Force One, with a comfortable bedroom and a spacious office. However, no US president would want to do two back-to-back round trips to Europe with only about sixty hours at home in between. But Prez Joe Biden is doing that this week – for reasons White House insiders have generally avoided speaking too much about.
Last Wednesday, June 5th, Biden left for France to attend the D-Day commemorations, stayed through the weekend for a state dinner in Paris and returned home to Delaware late Sunday. He left Washington again early Wednesday, June 12th for Italy where he went for G7 international summit.
Biden may not remember his son Hunter’s conviction over lying charges on getting a gun permit (a journey of one day and half flying).
But what was wrong with staying those few days in Europe? By all means he is an octogenarian who has passed 80 while some of his staffs less than half his age were complaining about messed up circadian cycles.
Biden left because he had commitments in Washington according to White House sources. In comparison though, there appeared to be little on his public diary: lunching with Vice President Kamala Harris and speaking before a meeting of gun safety advocates. The planning was also affected by Hunter Biden’s trial which it could not be known at the time these trips were made that would go into the jury room or that there would be any kind of verdict passed within three days of returning from the D-Day trip.
There were however other voices who felt they had good reason to worry about their reelection chances next year. Thus said one adviser close to Biden; “Besides… it might look funny if our guy just took off on vacation.” Anyway nobody wanted photographs of their president going around as if he was on holiday in Europe while running again this fall. The presidency itself is an anytime-anywhere position. There is instantaneous communications (for example, just one of many white house vans, bristling with antennas) and a physical staff of hundreds to cover every eventuality be it sending off thank you notes or launching nuclear war.
A tradition exists against seeing presidents out of the country on personal business. Although Franklin D. Roosevelt enjoyed summers at Campobello Island in Canada, his visits there were short when he was president. Harry Truman went to Potsdam, Germany for over two weeks where he negotiated with Joseph Stalin and Winston Churchill on post-WWII Europe would look like. Negotiations broke up for a week or so, but soon resumed without interruption, as the nearest big city (Berlin) lay in ruins from Allied bombing raids. Nor did it help that the political party which sent him there was defeated during the conference and Churchill lost his position before it ended.
However, some White House insiders have said privately these moves might not sit well at home during an election year. The possible reasons behind this: there is nothing urgent about staying in Europe; and an outsider’s point of view was voiced by a senior Biden aide who knew what needed to be done thereby accepting down days as “not looking right.” In any case none of them wanted pictures of the President Joe whom they believed their enemies might interpret as taking European jaunt during reelection campaigns. The presidency itself is an anytime-anywhere position. It has instant communications (e.g., a white house van traveling full of antennaes), assisted by hundreds of personnel available round-the-clock even for such minor tasks like thank-you cards or launching retaliatory missile attack.
But wanting to see them abroad can only be attributed to work purposes (save for). Franklin D Roosevelt loved camping on Campobello Island but had always made very brief stops whenever he visited it while being president. When Harry S Truman went to Potsdam, Germany after World War II ended he stayed more than two weeks. The negotiations broke for a week or so, but resumed thereafter without pause since the nearest major city (Berlin) had been leveled by Allied bombing. Yet this was no guarantee of safety from being away from home: the Labour Party won an election while he was still there at this conference and Churchill was thrown out of office before its conclusion.
