For Clinton, Opportunity to Kick Back

If you’re president of the United States and you think you need a vacation--badly--then it doesn’t get much better than this.

Over the last three days, the man whose workdays often are scheduled in 10-minute segments has broken 80 on one of the nation’s toniest golf courses, attended posh parties all across this trendy island summering spot and basked amid rumors that he would be a surprise drop-in guest at Barbra Streisand’s Block Island, R.I., wedding. (Actually, there was no wedding, but that kind of attention can be heady, even for the nation’s chief executive.)

On Tuesday, a visibly relaxed William Jefferson Clinton, fresh from an hour of jogging and a quick shower, prepared for a quiet afternoon with his family and a dinner party at the home of actors Ted Danson and Mary Steenburgen to celebrate his 51st birthday.

“It feels good today--I’ve had a wonderful time here,” he told reporters in a statement that even the most hard-nosed Clinton critic would not have doubted. “I’m very fortunate to be here and, as far as I know, I’m in good health, and the country’s doing well. . . . So I’m very happy today.”

Not every president has been able to relax on his vacations. When George Bush was in the White House, virtually every time he tried to get away there was something to keep him on edge during his off-hours.

In August 1990, for example, shortly before Bush vacationed at his home in Kennebunkport, Maine, Iraq invaded Kuwait, setting the stage for the Persian Gulf War. The following August the Soviet Union collapsed. And, during the 1992 Thanksgiving holiday, Bush was preparing to send U.S. troops to Somalia. It was almost as if his vacations had been jinxed, one longtime Bush-watcher mused.

But Clinton has suffered no such problems. The only pressing item on his agenda this week--pushing for a settlement in the Teamsters’ strike against the United Parcel Service--essentially resolved itself. While negotiators from both sides were bargaining, Clinton kept in touch third-hand. No need for hours of personal telephoning. His secretary of Labor was on the job.

“This is not particularly a working vacation,” Deputy White House Press Secretary Barry Toiv reminded reporters on Tuesday. “I don’t want to swear to you that he’s not going to make any decisions while he’s here, but there are not any major issues pending that he’s going to be working on--at least as of right now.”

Martha’s Vineyard, too, has been relaxed about the president’s vacationing. While Clinton has drawn respectable crowds of tourists during his few public appearances, his stay here hasn’t tied the island up in knots. Traffic flows are near-normal, and life appears to be going on much as it does every summer.

Moreover, in contrast to previous vacations, Clinton and his staff have sought to keep a low profile. With the election already behind him, the president has had no need for vigorous campaigning. There are no major crises dominating the headlines. White House Press Secretary Mike McCurry didn’t even make it up here. Apart from the president’s comments in praise of the Teamsters-UPS settlement, the White House has hardly made a sound.

The Clintons have been staying at the sprawling 1800s-era farmhouse--with accompanying stables and tennis courts--owned by Boston developer Richard Friedman, whom the president has known since the late 1980s, when they met at a Democratic Party conference.

Friends say the first family intentionally chose the spot in the hopes of having some privacy. The house is secluded by any standard. A lone dirt road is all that can be seen from the highway.

The White House hasn’t made public the rest of the president’s schedule, but presumably, there’s more “quiet time” to come. The Clintons are scheduled to be here until Sept. 7, which is a long time for a vacation by presidential standards. They were here in 1993 and 1994 and returned for a wedding in 1995. They also have vacationed in Jackson Hole, Wyo.