Clintons Drop Tahoe Vacation for Wyoming Trip

In a last-minute change, President Clinton and his family have decided not to vacation at Lake Tahoe after all. Instead, for the second summer in a row, they will head to Jackson Hole, Wyo., the White House announced Friday.

It seems that even the White House couldn’t arrange for a large number of rooms in the Lake Tahoe area at the last minute--presidential trips require rooms for Secret Service agents, at least a few White House aides and members of the news media. So the Clintons are now scheduled to stay Aug. 9-17 at the home of Max Chapman, a multimillionaire investment banker and a friend of former Deputy White House Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles.

The vacation will allow Clinton to observe a presidential tradition of not competing for publicity when the other party is having its convention. But White House Press Secretary Mike McCurry said Clinton may interrupt his vacation once or twice to hold events in the area, as he did last year.

The president’s stay at Chapman’s home also continues a long Clinton tradition of borrowing the homes of the wealthy for vacation stays. The first family, which has no home other than the White House, has done the same during past trips to Martha’s Vineyard, Mass.; Hilton Head Island, S.C.; and Jackson Hole.