# Does the president work on weekends? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 20, 2013, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-president-work-on-weekends/647803 "2013-01-20T14:53:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2013, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-president-work-on-weekends/647803/1 "2013-01-20T14:53:04Z")
Does the president of the US work on weekends? What are his working hours like, anyway? (I’m Canadian. I don’t know much about these things.) I hope this isn’t too dumb of a question. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2013, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-president-work-on-weekends/647803/2 "2013-01-20T15:29:03Z")
The president essentially works every day around the clock, even if he is officially on vacation. Apparently Obama has to make quite an effort to have dinner with his family every evening. ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2013, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-president-work-on-weekends/647803/3 "2013-01-20T16:54:38Z")
I would presume the same to be true of the Canadian Prime Minister and most or all world leaders. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2013, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-president-work-on-weekends/647803/4 "2013-01-20T17:14:23Z")
A president is at work 24/7; if he’s sleeping he can be awakened at any time if there’s a crisis. Even on vacation, the president works. He usually cuts down on his meetings and spends the time relaxing; his schedule will only include essential briefings and events. But he can’t get away from the job. ---
**Author:** ![harmonicamoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/65b543/32.png) [@harmonicamoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmonicamoon)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2013, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-president-work-on-weekends/647803/5 "2013-01-20T17:38:07Z")
I read that the Obama white house is brewing beer. So apparently he catches a buzz now and then. But are we saying that a president can never get “wasted”? ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2013, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-president-work-on-weekends/647803/6 "2013-01-20T17:47:32Z")
If the President were paid overtime when on-call, he’d be making big money. He must _always_ be within very few minutes of [the _Football_](http://legacy.signonsandiego.com/news/world/20040604-0731-pope-bush-football.html). (AFAIK, the Football does not contain a [Red Button](http://www.theonion.com/articles/obama-makes-it-through-another-day-of-resisting-ur,20364/).) ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2013, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-president-work-on-weekends/647803/7 "2013-01-20T18:03:43Z")
The President has a scheduler(s) just like any important executive. That can be a mixed blessing. It saves the person from having to deal with requests for meetings. But it also means your life is controlled by that book. I’d imagine there’s not many free minutes in that schedule unless the President insists on free time. “Guys I will be in the gym 2-3pm deal with it.” The President also has the extra burden of National crises. Which can trump any planned schedule. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2013, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-president-work-on-weekends/647803/8 "2013-01-20T18:05:37Z")
> [@harmonicamoon](#): > > I read that the Obama white house is brewing beer. So apparently he catches a buzz now and then. But are we saying that a president can never get “wasted”? Well, he probably shouldn’t. But Nixon was reportedly plastered during a good chunk of his second term, so obviously Presidents can drink to excess if they want to. There’s no law against it. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2013, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-president-work-on-weekends/647803/9 "2013-01-20T18:06:05Z")
> [@harmonicamoon](#): > > I read that the Obama white house is brewing beer. So apparently he catches a buzz now and then. But are we saying that a president can never get “wasted”? I’m not sure that we can say that a president has _never_ been intoxicated—apparently Nixon was drinking quite heavily in the period leading up to his resignation. But, yes, I think we can say that it would probably be problematic for a president to get “wasted” at any time during his presidency. You do _not_ want to be that guy who was under the influence when something big happened. > [@septimus](#): > > If the President were paid overtime when on-call, he’d be making big money. He must _always_ be within very few minutes of [the _Football_](http://legacy.signonsandiego.com/news/world/20040604-0731-pope-bush-football.html). > (AFAIK, the Football does not contain a [Red Button](http://www.theonion.com/articles/obama-makes-it-through-another-day-of-resisting-ur,20364/).) And, speaking of football, a president [must remember to chew his food when watching it.](http://articles.cnn.com/2002-01-14/politics/bush.fainting_1_pretzel-vital-signs-white-house?_s=PM:ALLPOLITICS) ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2013, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-president-work-on-weekends/647803/10 "2013-01-20T18:24:47Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > Well, he probably shouldn’t. But Nixon was reportedly plastered during a good chunk of his second term, so obviously Presidents can drink to excess if they want to. There’s no law against it. Not to mention Ulysses Grant, who was reportedly very fond of his whiskey. Many feel that it was exaggerated, and that there is little evidence to support him being drunk while serving as POTUS. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2013, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-president-work-on-weekends/647803/11 "2013-01-20T18:24:50Z")
Anyhoo, as to the OP’s question, the President does work on weekends. Not just in the sense of being “on call”, he’s physically in the Oval Office. A few years ago the “faux-outrage” of the week from the GOP was that Obama relaxed the WH dress code so that he and his staff didn’t have to wear ties on the weekend. During the weekdays, he’s apparently very into having a very regimented schedule. He gets up at the same time, works out for 45 minutes, works till the girls get home from school, as a set few hours set aside for “family time” and dinner, and then goes back to work till bed (he’s apparently something of a night owl). (source is an NPR interview I heard a few months ago with a reporter who shadowed Obama for a few weeks). ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2013, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-president-work-on-weekends/647803/12 "2013-01-20T22:12:36Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > But, yes, I think we can say that it would probably be problematic for a president to get “wasted” at any time during his presidency. You do _not_ want to be that guy who was under the influence when something big happened. In related news, there’s [this column](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2910/is-the-secret-service-responsible-for-keeping-the-president-from-getting-drunk) by **Elendil’s Heir** discussing the concept of presidents getting plastered: > [@Elendil's Heir](#): > > I think we can all agree that if you’re the president, you have a responsibility to the country not to get drunk. After all, you never know when that red phone is going to ring and someone is going to give you some really, really bad news.