By Mike Allen    Washington Whore Post Staff Writer   Tuesday, August 7, 2001; Page A01

CRAWFORD, Tex., Aug. 6 -- By the time President Bush returns to Washington on Labor Day after the longest presidential
vacation in 32 years, he will have spent all or part of 54 days since the inauguration at his parched but beloved ranch. That's
almost a quarter of his presidency.

Throw in four days last month at his parents' seaside estate in Kennebunkport, Maine, and 38 full or partial days at the
presidential retreat at Camp David, and Bush will have spent 42 percent of his presidency at vacation spots or en route.

Many of those days are weekends, and the Camp David stays have included working visits with foreign leaders. But
administration officials, who initially believed that regular trips to the Texas ranch enhanced Bush's image as a rugged outsider,
are acting like they may be worried about the perception that he is loafing.

Responding to criticism from Democrats and their fears of long-term damage to Bush's image, his advisers have piled on so
many activities for this month-long vacation that the president is likely to feel he is marooned at an overly ambitious summer
camp. The White House held a briefing today to announce that Bush had run four miles early this morning, held a 45-minute
meeting with four senior officials here and talked by telephone with national security adviser Condoleezza Rice about
Macedonia.

Bush will "spend a good portion of the time working," spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters today.

The president did persuade some of his lucky aides to help him build a nature trail in one of his canyons, in the 102-degree
heat.

Bush stayed out of sight for the second day in a row and the White House would not allow journalists near the ranch. But the
administration released two frames by White House photographer Eric Draper, one showing Bush in the meeting with senior
aides. He is studying papers and wearing his reading glasses. The other captured him sporting a cowboy hat.

McClellan disclosed that Bush is reading "In the Heart of the Sea," last year's account of the whaling disaster that inspired
"Moby Dick." He said Bush intends to finish David McCullough's "John Adams," and then probably will read "a mystery of
some kind" but hasn't yet determined which one.

White House officials did not dispute the Washington Post calculations about Bush's travels. But McClellan said Bush spent
much of that time on presidential duties. McClellan noted that Texas is Bush's home, and pointed out that he is accompanied by
national security, military and communications support.

"The president, much like members of Congress -- although for a shorter period of time, I might add -- believes it's important
to come back home," McClellan said at the briefing.

When Bush visited his Prairie Chapel Ranch as Texas governor, he grilled burgers, swam in his pool and fished from his
stocked bass pond -- and no one made any fuss about it. Now, a press corps of 60 sits seven miles away, in a muggy gym,
and presses administration officials for a running account of his activities.

But Bush is unabashed about his travels. He had been in office less than two months when he told reporters in Washington, "If
I'm not going to Crawford, and I don't have to give a speech here on the weekend, I'm going to go to Camp David."

Aides say that of all Bush's options for escaping the 18-acre White House grounds, his favorite by far is the 1,583 acres of
Prairie Chapel Ranch, which he and his wife, Laura, bought in 1999 after his reelection as Texas governor.

"I love to go walking out there, seeing the cows -- occasionally they talk to me, being the good listener that I am," Bush told
Future Farmers of America leaders last month. "It's important for all of us in Washington to stay in touch with the values of the
heartland, because they're values that really are unique. It basically says that values -- a value system of basic, inherent values,
that override politics and different demographies and different religions. It's what makes America so unique and great."

Crawford's one major intersection just got a fancier blinker light, but many more changes are on the way. Bush plans to hold a
summit here with Russian President Vladimir Putin in November, and White House officials held a strategy session today about
how to import 400 to 500 phone lines -- and the officials and journalists that go with them -- to a quiet, dusty community with
two gas stations and no drugstore or motel.

The central role the ranch plays in Bush's psyche was evident when he was headed here six weeks ago and stopped en route at
a state park in Alabama. White House officials had promised a major environmental speech, but Bush delivered 12 minutes of
boilerplate that drew little news coverage and caused backbiting among the White House staff over who was to blame for the
botched trip. That night, though, with his Crawford getaway just a few hours away, Bush was enthusiastic.

"I can't wait to get back home," Bush said to laughter and applause at a $1,000-a-plate fundraising dinner in Birmingham.
"Washington, D.C., is a great place to work. But Texas is a great place to relax."

In private conversations, Bush is said to occasionally rhapsodize about the breezes on his ranch -- baffling aides who cannot
understand why he chooses this region's bleak topography and culture to, say, Kennebunkport or President Bill Clinton's
frequent vacation spot, Martha's Vineyard, Mass.

Few senior aides have accompanied Bush here. Chief of Staff Andrew H. Card Jr. and the deputy chief of staff for operations,
Joseph Hagin, are trading off Crawford duty. Counselor Karen Hughes is on her own two-week vacation. Press staff are
rotating in and out.

Bush's 30-day break is unmatched by a president since a visit by Richard Nixon to San Clemente, Calif., in 1969. With Bush
already combating doubts about his diligence, administration officials have been at pains to paint the trip as a "working
vacation," and have even given it a slogan -- the Home to the Heartland Tour. "The president will joyfully spend more time
away from Washington, D.C., than any previous president in quite a little while, but he'll be working while he's doing it," White
House press secretary Ari Fleischer said Friday.

Terence R. McAuliffe, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, joked about Bush's schedule this weekend on "Fox
News Sunday" during a discussion of the fall legislative fights the president faces. "I hope he has a long, enjoyable vacation,"
McAuliffe said. "He's going to need it when he gets back."

On Tuesday, Bush is scheduled to venture out into Crawford, which he rarely does on his trips to the ranch. On Wednesday,
he will help build a Habitat for Humanity house in nearby Waco. Before Labor Day, he is scheduled to fly to eight communities
over seven days in an effort, as McClellan put it, to "listen to the concerns of the people across America and to highlight the
values that bring America together."

McClellan said Bush will not be participating in forums or town halls. "It's more informal visiting," McClellan said. Stops will
include a Veterans of Foreign Wars convention in Milwaukee, a park in the Denver area where he will talk about character
education, a back-to-school event in Albuquerque, an American Legion convention in San Antonio and the Little League
World Series in Williamsport, Pa.

Several of Bush's predecessors also liked vacations. Associated Press tallies show President Ronald Reagan spent all or part of
335 days during his eight-year presidency in Santa Barbara, Calif., while over four years Bush's father spent all or part of 153
days in Kennebunkport and 390 at Camp David. President Harry Truman spent 175 days in Key West, Fla., over seven years,
and President Dwight Eisenhower took 29 golf outings to Augusta, Ga., over 222 days during his eight-year presidency,
according to the AP research.

Despite such history, Bush aides remain eager to highlight the work in his "working vacation." McClellan said Bush, who runs at
a pace of 7 minutes 25 seconds per mile, may be willing to have company on one of his jogs "if there are a couple of reporters
that think they can keep up with him."