Work, Play in Bush’s Day

Under a broiling central Texas sun, President Bush continued to mix work with what he considers pleasure, relishing the start of a monthlong “working vacation” here that on Tuesday included long-distance Middle East diplomacy, early-morning golf--and a three-mile, midday run.

“It’s nice to be home, for starters. This is my home. This is where I intend to live after I’m the president,” Bush told reporters as a glowing, orange-hued sun began ascending over Lake Waco and he prepared to tee off for 18 holes on the nearby, well-irrigated Ridgewood Country Club.

Perhaps mindful of some criticism of his prolonged leave-taking from Washington, Bush added, without any prompting:

“I’m working a lot of issues--national security matters. I’ve got some decisions to make, as you know: working on immigration policy, state visit with the president of Mexico. But I’m getting a lot done.”

The president headed out for golf in Waco in an 18-vehicle motorcade shortly after consulting by telephone with Condoleezza Rice, his national security advisor, and sending a letter to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, pledging continued U.S. involvement in the peace process.

Rice briefed Bush on the latest developments over Iraq, which fired on U.S. planes patrolling the no-fly zones, prompting U.S. fighter planes to retaliate against an Iraqi air defense site in northern Iraq.

After completing his speedy golf outing, which took about 2 1/2 hours, Bush said in a second encounter with reporters that the U.S. retaliatory strikes were so routine that the matter did not come to his attention until afterward.

“As you know, our military can make decisions as they see fit to protect our pilots--unless, of course, it’s close to Baghdad, in which case it requires my approval,” Bush said.

” . . . Saddam Hussein is a menace. He’s still a menace, and we need to keep him in check--and will. He’s been a menace forever, and we will do--he needs to open his country up for inspection--so we can see whether or not he’s developing weapons of mass destruction.”

The president also mentioned that he had spoken to the king of Jordan “the other day” in addition to sending a letter Tuesday morning to Mubarak, whom Bush called prime minister before correcting himself.

The president seemed in a good mood Tuesday.

Asked for his strategy to combat the furnace-like heat here, where the heat index usually surges past 100 degrees by mid-morning, Bush unleashed something of an anti-elitist riff.

“This is Texas. I know a lot of you wish you were on the East Coast, lounging on the beach, sucking in the salt air. But when you are from Texas--and love Texas--this is where you come home. This is my home. . . . I don’t mind the heat.”

Clearly not.

On Sunday, the president and First Lady Laura Bush walked for four miles on the ranch. On Monday, after a four-mile run, Bush and some aides began working on a nature walk in a canyon.

Each day he also has fished in his bass-stocked lake on the 1,600-acre “Prairie Chapel” ranch.

“One of the things I find to be helpful is to get outdoors. Washington, D.C., is a fine place, and I am honored to be working in the Oval Office and staying in the compound there,” Bush said.

“But I am the kind of person that needs to get outdoors. I like to be outdoors. It keeps my mind whole. It keeps my spirits up. I think it’s important for people to get outside and to work. I’m making a lot of improvements on the ranch. I find that to be a good part to keeping me a balanced person.”

In his spare time, Bush finished “In the Heart of the Sea,” a book about whaling by Nathaniel Philbrick, and began David McCullough’s best-selling book on John Adams. For the Bush clan, the Adams family has taken on special significance because Adams’ son, John Quincy, also succeeded his father as president.

“I’m particularly paying attention to that part about John Quincy Adams,” Bush added with a smile. “You might remember, Quincy and I have got something in common.”

Bush’s golf partners were Texas state Sen. David Sibley and two Waco surgeons, Kent Starr and Ned Snyder.

Although they rode in golf carts, by the time the foursome approached the 18th green, huge perspiration stains were visible on Bush’s red-striped polo shirt and khaki slacks.

He did not do as well on the links as he might have hoped.

“You know,” Bush reported, “word about the president is supposed to win hasn’t gotten here yet.”

Today, the Bushes are scheduled to work for about an hour at a Habitat for Humanity house in Waco, participating in a wall building and raising event.