Vacation White Houses Trivia Quiz

Answer: San Clemente

Nixon had been offered the use of an estate in Key Biscayne Florida by Bebe Rebozo that met with much controversy. He eventually settled on San Clemente, which was about 60 miles south of Los Angeles. This incurred the wrath of local surfers, since the Western White House occupied some of the prime surfing beaches in the area. Huntington Beach and Santa Cruz are two other beach cities noted for surfing (and litigated which one had the right to be known as Surf City). San Simeon is the location of Hearst Castle, on the coast between Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Answer: Kailua, Hawai'i

Although President Obama served as senator from the state of Illinois, his heart remains at the state of his birth and most of his childhood years. Although Mr. Obama is an avid basketball fan and Springfield is the home of the Hall of Fame, this town would be more a tourist stop. Likewise, Hilton Head has many fine golf courses that would interest Mr. Obama; but it has not served as a working area.

Answer: Key West, Florida

President Truman had suffered from exhaustion in 1947 and doctors had recommended he spend an extended time in a warmer climate. He visited Key West about 11 times, often for a couple of months at a time. Although the president was born in Missouri and eventually retired to Independence, Branson developed long after he had left office.

Although Ted Williams played baseball in Boston and was born in San Diego, he is also remembered as an avid and expert fisherman who lived on Islamorada on the Florida keys.

Answer: Teddy Roosevelt

Sagamore Hill was the ancestral home of President Teddy Roosevelt's family. Presidents Franklin Roosevelt and Martin Van Buren were also native New Yorkers. Clinton did vacation in the Hamptons, an exclusive neighborhood outside of New York City.

Answer: Franklin Roosevelt

You may recognize this site from the movie Sunrise at Campobello which was about Franklin Roosevelt and his recovery from polio. Surprisingly Campobello is an island off of the coast of New Brunswick, Canada - an unlikely location for the seat of U.S. power. President Roosevelt was familiar with the location, since his family owned a vacation home in the resort area.

Answer: Vail, Colorado

President Ford later vacationed in Palm Springs, California near the estate of Walter Annenburg (publisher of Readers' Digest and other popular magazines). Before that he and his family enjoyed the ski resort of Vail.
Although he represented the state of Michigan, he didn't select any of the beautiful towns of the upper peninsula of that state for his vacation White House. Crawford Ranch is the residence of George W. Bush.

Answer: Santa Barbara, California

President Reagan grew up In Illinois, but joined the mass migration to the Golden State. Peoria is a small city in Illinois that was considered the prototypical U.S. city. An earlier saying "will it play in Peoria" was used to question whether a product or idea would be accepted by the typical American.
Simi Valley is the home of the Reagan Presidential Library, but the president was an avid horseman and enjoyed his time in Santa Barbara.

Answer: Franklin Roosevelt

Hopefully this wasn't an unfair question. President Carter is the president most associated with the state of Georgia and would be an automatic first response; however, he returned to his home in Plains.

President Roosevelt suffered increasing pain from his paralysis (and the stress of WWII) and found relief in the spa waters of Warm Springs. Unfortunately what makes the connection between Warm Springs and FDR is the fact that this is the location he died.

Answer: Dwight Eisenhower

President Eisenhower maintained a residence, known as the Gettysburg Farm. He and Mamie had never owned a home during his military career. When he accepted the presidency of Columbia University after WWII, Mamie had a stipulation that they purchase a home. Friends helped find a rundown farm in Gettysburg, near his first posting as an army officer where he could see the iconic battlefield.

Answer: Dwight Eisenhower

President Franklin Roosevelt expanded the existing base so that it could be used as a working location and called it Shangra La. President Eisenhower thought the name was inappropriate and named it for two family members.