Obama burger run: What's strangest presidential walkabout of all time?
| Washington
On Tuesday, President Obama made an unscheduled lunch run to Alexandria, Va., for burgers. He and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan broke out of the White House security bubble and limoed to in Del Ray, a neighborhood with a high concentration of trendy eating spots. We hope the president remembered to bring his wallet as the place isn鈥檛 cheap by most Americans鈥� standards. The Pimento Pork Burger is $11 during the day shift. A Bacon Burger is $12.
As the Associated Press notes in its wire story on this event, burger runs are becoming something of a habit for Mr. Obama. Last month, he and Vice President Joe Biden showed up at the Shake Shack in D.C.鈥檚 Dupont Circle.
And the FireFlies visit marks the second day in a row Obama has ventured forth on an unannounced outing. On Monday, he strolled over to Starbucks on foot with Chief of Staff Denis McDonough. According to sources close to the outing, the president had hot tea, venti-sized. When leaving the White House for the coffee shop, Obama patted his communications director on the back and said, 鈥淭he bear鈥檚 loose.鈥�
As this comment hints, it鈥檚 common for presidents to resent the gilded captivity of the Executive Mansion. Their every movement seems to be planned in advance, with Secret Service and press staff coordination. Presidents have many powers, but the power to be spontaneous generally isn鈥檛 among them.
Thus the bear occasionally gets loose. As president-elect, Bill Clinton famously jogged to McDonald鈥檚. After his inauguration he insisted on continuing to run outside the White House grounds. The , and installed a track around the Executive Mansion perimeter to try and break Clinton of the habit. He didn鈥檛 like it, and continued to occasionally jog down the National Mall and along the Potomac.
But arguably the strangest White House walkabout of all time involved that most fascinating and confounding of modern US chief executives, Richard M. Nixon. It was 鈥渙ne of the more remarkable episodes of Nixon鈥檚 presidency,鈥� writes historian Fred Emery in his book 鈥淲atergate.鈥�
It occurred in the early morning hours of May 9, 1970. That was a terribly tense time in the US. Nixon had ordered the invasion of Cambodia as part of the Vietnam War, and antiwar protesters had redoubled their efforts as a result. A demonstration at Kent State University had left four students dead after National Guard members panicked and opened fire.
Nixon held a press conference on May 8 and was wrought-up afterwards. After a brief sleep, he awoke and started making phone calls. His Spanish-born valet, Manolo Sanchez, appeared with coffee, and Nixon asked Sanchez if he鈥檇 ever seen the Lincoln Memorial at night. The valet said no, and Nixon said, 鈥淟et鈥檚 get dressed and go.鈥�
That鈥檚 what they did. A startled White House aide, Egil Krogh, followed in their wake. At the great statue of Lincoln, Nixon moved down to talk to a group of very surprised antiwar protesters. Accounts of what followed vary. Nixon later wrote that he tried to have an uplifting conversation and pass along wisdom about 鈥渕atters of the spirit.鈥� Some of the students said he seemed to ramble and talked about the football team from Syracuse University, which some of them attended.
After that, Nixon and Sanchez drove to the Capitol and the president had a surprised duty clerk unlock the House chamber. Nixon sat in his old desk on the floor and had Sanchez pretend to make a speech, while Nixon led the applause, according to Emery鈥檚 account of the incident.
The president then wanted to walk back to the White House but the way was blocked by buses. They ended up having breakfast at the Mayflower Hotel.
鈥淭he weirdest day so far,鈥� began Chief of Staff H. R. Haldeman鈥檚 diary entry for May 9. After detailing the events of the walk, Haldeman added of Nixon: 鈥淚 am concerned about his condition.鈥�
