On the Presidential Vacation, It’s Hurry Up and Relax

George Bush, you see, is not like you or me.

When he relaxes, he is anything but relaxed--at least not in a conventional sense of the word.

Whether in his sprawling and delightfully comfortable house on the shore of the Atlantic or slamming through the ocean’s icy waters in the twin-engine cigarette boat Fidelity, George Herbert Walker Bush pursues relaxation with the vengeance of Jay Gatsby yearning for respectability amid his millions.

The phrase couch potato is not in the Bush lexicon. The President arrived here from Washington late Wednesday afternoon. By 9 a.m. Thursday, he had already met with senior aides in his office, just a few paces from the house on Walkers Point, and was headed out into the Atlantic aboard his dark blue racing craft--with throttle at full speed and his grinning face straining over the wheel as though every ounce of personal energy he could transfer to the thundering engines would propel him ever faster.

Long, Active Days

Boating in the morning. Golf in the afternoon.

He set the pace on Thursday and repeated it Friday and Saturday. On Sunday, he broke the routine by squeezing in a 22-minute jog in a cheerless mist before 7 a.m. and attending the 10 a.m. service at St. Ann’s Episcopal Church down the road before taking off for a fishing expedition aboard the boat.

To a small group of reporters and photographers watching from a variety of vantage points at the Cape Arundel Golf Club as the President, son George W. Bush and the club’s pro, Ken Raynor, made their way from hole to hole aboard electric golf carts, elements of the presidential golf style became clear.

Moving only slightly less rapidly than a Robin Williams monologue--but with much the same pace to his banter--Bush cleared the 18 holes in an hour and 55 minutes Thursday. On Friday, he knocked four minutes off that.

‘Aerobic’ Golfing

“Aerobic golf,” is the way Dr. Lawrence Mohr, the White House physician, describes the game.

At the 10th hole the President remarked: “I do better when there’s a couple cameras.” And so he did, smacking a clean shot down the fairway.

“You guys mind coming with us? Best shot I’ve had all day!” Bush said.

As he approached another tee, he chirped: “All I want is nice picture-smooth.” And that’s what he got.

Before scooting away in his golf cart, son George cracked: “For a guy your age, you hit pretty good.” All the 65-year-old President could do in the face of such teasing impudence was to cock his head and mutter: “For a guy my age?”

Of course, the golf didn’t always work out so well. On the 12th green the President pulled out his long-handled putter--the “miracle putter,” it’s been dubbed--and missed a three-footer. He tried again, and missed. And again, and again, and again, tossing a new ball onto the green each time, before he sank the putt.

Presidential Edge

“One of the advantages of being President--you get to putt until you make it,” his son said.

Similarly, on another occasion, Bush was seen simply picking the ball up short of the green and driving off with it.

And, even with the walls of presidential privacy tumbling, some secrets remain. The White House refuses to disclose the President’s golf score.

Until Sunday, Bush had skipped his early morning jogging to play tennis instead. Those games have been played on the family property, away from prying eyes.

Still, son George W. readily reported that he and brother Marvin defeated brother Jeb and the President, 6-4, 1-6, 6-4.

The 11-acre Walkers Point compound first belonged to the President’s maternal grandfather, George Herbert Walker Sr., a prominent stockbroker. In 1981, Bush bought the house, on a granite-guarded spit of land, from his mother, Dorothy Walker Bush.

Each August he and his wife, Barbara, their children and now a growing brood of grandchildren have gathered here for vacation. The upstairs rooms of the 26-room house serve as dormitories for the youngsters.

Annual Family Gathering

Every year of his life except 1944, when he was a naval aviator in the Pacific Theater, Bush has visited the Kennebunkport home at least once.

This year, between entertaining guests and the Olympian schedule of activities, there is also time for work. Each morning at 8, Robert M. Gates, the President’s deputy national security adviser, and James Cicconi, an assistant to the President, have driven a mile down Ocean Avenue from their hotel to review national security and other matters with the President. But they have managed to wrap up the work within an hour, leaving the day clear for relaxation.

Still, there is the matter of the guests Bush has invited to Walkers Point--prime ministers Poul Schlueter of Denmark and Brian Mulroney of Canada. In addition, the President plans a day trip back to Washington on Sept. 1, when he is to meet with Toshiki Kaifu, the new Japanese prime minister.

The President’s plan for his nearly three-week stay here, White House Press Secretary Marlin Fitzwater said, is “not to try to schedule any special work matters to interrupt what otherwise is a vacation.”

But Fitzwater added: “Now that, of course, is with the exception of a visit by three heads of state--a minor interruption.”