Air Force One is comfortable enough for its privileged patrons, with comfortable bedrooms and spacious offices.
Still, most US presidents would try to avoid two consecutive round-trip trips to Europe that would involve roughly 60 hours in the country, but President Biden is doing just that this week.
“The president has a packed schedule, that’s true,” White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said. “There’s a lot of work to do on behalf of the American people.”
Biden left the U.S. last Wednesday for the Normandy landings anniversary ceremony in France on June 5, and then attended a state dinner in Paris over the weekend before returning to his Delaware home late Sunday. He left Washington again early on June 12, bound for the southeast coast of Italy for the annual meeting of the G7, the traditional summit that brings together the leaders of the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan.
When Biden looks back on those two round-trip trips — roughly a day and a half of flying time in total — he may only remember what happened in between: the conviction of his only surviving son, Hunter Biden, for lying to obtain a gun permit.
But the two round-trip trips raise the question: Why didn’t he spend a few days in Europe, play a round of golf, visit U.S. troops, and meet with a foreign leader or two? After all, he is 81 years old, and some of his aides half his age complained about lack of sleep.
The White House explained that Biden’s four transatlantic trips in nine days were simply down to commitments in Washington, but by presidential standards his schedule seemed light: a lunch with Vice President Kamala Harris, a Juneteenth concert and a speech to gun safety groups.
The Hunter Biden trial also influenced the plans, but at the time these trips were planned, it could not have been foreseen that the case would go to a jury and a verdict would be rendered in the three days between the Normandy landings trip and the G7 summit. In the end, Biden returned to Delaware to be with his son on Tuesday afternoon, before leaving again the next morning.
But some aides privately said election-year imagery should be considered. One Biden adviser acknowledged that there was no pressing reason to stay in Europe and that a few days away “might not look good,” but the aide was quick to add that Biden has never actually taken any time off. In any case, at least while he was seeking reelection, no one wanted to see the president taking what his political opponents might consider a European vacation. A long weekend in the Delaware town of Rehoboth might be nice, but a few days in France or Italy feels quite different.
Of course, the presidency is the ultimate “work from anywhere” job, with instant communications (an antenna-covered White House van rides in each motorcade) and hundreds of staff members ready to respond to any contingency, from sending thank-you notes to launching a retaliatory nuclear strike.
There is a long history of intolerance towards meeting presidents abroad outside of work. Franklin D. Roosevelt liked to camp on Canada’s Campobello Island, but as president, his visits were short-lived. Harry S. Truman went to Potsdam, Germany, where he stayed for more than two weeks as he negotiated with Joseph Stalin and Winston Churchill about the shape of Europe after World War II. There was a respite from the negotiations, but it was short-lived, and the nearest major city, Berlin, lay in bombed-out ruins, and there were also reminders of the risks of leaving town. Churchill’s party was defeated by the Labour Party during the conference, and Churchill was forced out of office while the conference was still ongoing.
