Number of trips home and days spent at home during first 100 days in office

In a December interview with the Chicago Tribune, Barack Obama said that he hoped to return to his home in Hyde Park at least once every six weeks. “My Kennebunkport is on the South Side,” he said, referring to former president George “41” Bush’s retreat in Maine. “Our family is here. And so we are going to try to come back here as often as possible.”  But in his first 15 weeks as president, Obama has come back only once—for the Valentine’s Day weekend. 

It appears that coming home has been much harder than he thought. (The White House declined to comment.)

Obama isn’t the only president who has had trouble making hometown visits after taking the oath of office. Out of the past six presidents, only former president George W. Bush (“43”) has really had that “home, sweet home” feeling, spending 16 of his first 100 days at his ranch in Crawford, Texas.

Sources: the William J. Clinton, George Bush, Ronald Reagan, and Jimmy Carter presidential libraries.
* The George W. Bush Presidential Library declined to provide any information regarding Bush’s travel schedule. This number was compiled from various news sources.