Steven Thomma
McClatchy Newspapers
May 30, 2012
Theodore Roosevelt warned future presidents of the grave risks: “Fatal,” he said. Harry Truman shunned it – “a political noose,” in the words of one writer. John Kennedy strived to keep it as secret, or almost as secret, as some of his other diversions.
The obsession? Golf.
For a century it’s been the game of presidents, a sunny escape from the office for 15 of the 18 chief executives since the first Roosevelt. It’s also a game that appears elite to many people, enough so that golfing presidents play at their political peril.
Now comes Barack Obama. He tries to keep his golfing out of view, banning news cameras when he can. But his love of the game has taken him to the course nearly 100 times already in his presidency, and election rival Mitt Romney says that’s simply too much in a time of economic anxiety.
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