Obama is the golf playing and beer brewing president

It’s nice that the president can find the time to play so much golf while he manages two wars, a faltering economy, 9% unemployment, the highest foreclosure rate since the Great depression, and the highest ever rate of bankruptcies in U.S. history. And if that isn’t enough, he’s now the first president to brew his own beer.

The Daily Mail reports that playing a regular round of golf is par for the course for American presidents, and Barack Obama is certainly no different.

The President - who admits to more than a passing fondness for the game - has managed to rack up 60 games since he was elected president in 2008.

With spring in the air he was spotted back on the course this weekend, at the same time it was revealed he has become the first president to produce White House beer.


According to statistics compiled by CBS News White House correspondent Mark Knoller, who keeps close tabs on the president’s activities, Mr Obama played 28 rounds in 2009, 30 rounds in 2010, and two this year.

It is far more than his predecessor George W Bush managed in his entire presidency.

George Bush was widely criticised for playing golf during his term of office, and he became the subject of ridicule when during one media interview on the golf course he signed off by saying,

'I call upon all nations to do everything they can to stop these terrorist killings. Thank you. Now watch this drive.'

Mr Bush announced he was giving up golf in 2003 because of the war in Iraq, explaining, 'I don’t want some mom whose son may have recently died to see the commander in chief playing golf. I feel I owe it to the families to be in solidarity as best as I can with them. And I think playing golf during a war just sends the wrong signal.'

There are those who believe Mr Obama should follow Bush’s example, but the President's love of the game has been supported by White House staff who say he needs 'downtime' to deal with the stresses of ruling the U.S.

Last year the head of BP Tony Hayward was taken to task by Whitehouse spokesman Bill Burton about attending a yacht race at the Isle of Wight soon after the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Burton's comments echoed those of White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel who called Hawyard's decision to go to the yacht race the latest in a 'long line of PR gaffes and mistakes.

But when asked about Mr Obama's four hour golf game at a course near Washington, Burton said the President had the right to decompress a bit after a hard week.

'I don't think that there's a person in this country that doesn't think that their President ought to have a little time to clear his mind, said Burton, adding, 'I think that a little time to himself on Father's Day weekend probably does us all good as American citizens.'

The Golf Digest has ranked Mr Obama eighth in terms of how much he has played golf in his presidency, behind Bill Clinton but ahead of Ronald Reagan. John F Kennedy, widely considered the best golfing president, made sure he was never photographed on the course.

Mr Obama is said to choose the company of young administration staffers instead of lawmakers or senior aides, backing up the idea that he uses the game to relax rather than plan policy.

Last year the volcanic plume covering most of Europe forced him to cancel a trip to Poland to attend the funeral of the nation’s president. With the resulting gap in his schedule the President headed to the links for a round of golf instead.

Meanwhile Mr Obama has become the first US President ever to produce his own beer, which he calls White House Honey Ale.

More than 100 bottles of the home brew were served at his recent Super Bowl party, and he is planning to bring out more at a St Patrick's Day party he is holding later this month.

The President paid for the home beer making kit and asked his culinary team to use honey from the White House hives for the beer.

He is known for his love of beer and has used social drinking to help break the ice during diplomatic meetings.

At the G20 summit in Toronto last June, he and David Cameron traded bottles of beer to settle a bet on the U.S.-U.K. World Cup game.

During the 2010 Olympics he and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper each wagered a case of beer on the outcome of the men's hockey final.


Question?

Does the president have a liquor license to brew his own alcohol? Oh, yeah. He probably keeps it with his birth certificate.


Remember the Beer Summit?