military action there since the last U.S. The president's Republican critics have already hammered him for going ahead with a vacation just days after authorizing airstrikes in Iraq - the first direct U.S.
The Merkel call took place on Air Force One during Obama's flight to Massachusetts. On Saturday they released statements describing calls he made to British Prime Minister David Cameron, French President Francois Hollande, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. "And if there’s a need for the president to return to the White House, it’s not a long flight from Martha’s Vineyard back to Washington, D.C." White House officials go to great pains to show Obama is on top of world events even when he is on fundraising trips or family vacations. "The president will be traveling to Massachusetts with an array of communications equipment and national security advisers and others to ensure that he has the capacity to make the kinds of decisions that are required for the Commander-in-Chief," White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters on Friday. Administration officials made clear he would continue to do his job even while getting some time off, and a phalanx of aides, including national security adviser Susan Rice, came along to ensure that a virtual Oval Office was never far away. With crises boiling in Gaza, Iraq and Ukraine, Obama - like his presidential predecessors in similar circumstances - proceeded with plans for a summer break, but only after making his Iraq statement against the very presidential backdrop. Part of the problem is dealing with appearances, or 'optics' as Washington pundits like to call it. The contrasting scenes, which quickly sparked some hostile commentary from critics, illustrate the dilemma of taking time off when you are the most powerful leader in the world and, by definition, handling major issues all the time.
Four hours later, he offered an altogether different tableau: a golf game with friends at a lush course on Martha's Vineyard, the upscale Massachusetts island where the president and his family began a two-week vacation. military strikes in Iraq on Saturday from a podium on the White House lawn with Marine One, the presidential helicopter, parked in the background.
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(Reuters) - President Barack Obama gave Americans an update on U.S.
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