Obama heading back to DC in rare vacation break

President Barack Obama is getting off the island.

In a rare move for him, the president planned a break in the middle of his Martha's Vineyard vacation to return to Washington on Sunday night for unspecified meetings with Vice President Joe Biden and other advisers.

The White House has been cagey about why the president needs to be back in Washington for those discussions.

Part of the decision appears aimed at countering criticism that Obama is spending two weeks on a resort island in the midst of so many foreign and domestic crises.

Yet those crises turned the first week of Obama's vacation into a working holiday. He made on-camera statements on US Military action in Iraq and the clashes between police and protesters in Ferguson, Missouri. He called foreign leaders to discuss the tensions between Ukraine and Russia, as well as between Israel and Hamas

"I think it's fair to say there are, of course, ongoing complicated situations in the world, and that's why you've seen the president stay engaged," White House spokesman Eric Schultz said.

Obama is scheduled to return to Martha's Vineyard on Tuesday and stay through next weekend.

Even though work has occupied much of Obama's first week on vacation, he still found plenty of time to golf, go to the beach with his family and go out to dinner on the island.

He also attended a birthday party for Democratic adviser Vernon Jordan's wife, where he spent time with former President Bill Clinton and Hillary Rodham Clinton

That get-together between the former rivals-turned-partners added another complicated dynamic to Obama's vacation. Just as Obama was arriving on Martha's Vineyard, an interview with the former secretary of state was published in which she levied some of her sharpest criticism of Obama's foreign policy.

Clinton later promised she and Obama would "hug it out" when they saw each other at Jordan's party. No reporters were allowed in, so it's not clear whether there was any hugging, but the White House said the president danced to nearly every song.

Obama's First 100 Days

Among the most significant steps in the first hundred days:
I believe in our president and trust his judgement. I'm also happy about the choices he made for his cabnet. When Michelle says that she's proud of our country, I agree. Passage of a $787 billion recovery plan; the release of the second tranche of TARP funding — an additional $350 billion — for troubled banks; a public-private partnership to rid banks of toxic assets on their balance sheets; so-called “stress tests” on major financial institutions; a $275 billion housing program estimated to rescue as many as 9 million homeowners from foreclosure;
a proposal for major overhaul of the financial regulatory system. The president also has called for limits on executive pay; ordered the firing of General Motors chief Rick Wagoner as part of the restructuring of the auto industry; and taken credit card executives to task for raising interest rates and fees in the midst of a recession. Aides say the president’s first hundred days have been as productive as any since Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

Famous for his even temperament, the president's mood has darkened, aides say, in only a few instances since taking office: in his dealings with military families who've lost loved ones, and when reading some of the personal letters from Americans telling stories of their own economic turmoil.

"I like the fact that he didn't come in and give us a bunch of happy talk. I'm glad he shot straight with us," Clinton said. "I just would like him to end by saying that he is hopeful and completely convinced we're gonna come through this."

United States Economy

We are currently facing one of the most difficult economic periods. With more than two million jobs lost in 2008, decisive action is needed to return our economy to a path for growth and full employment, and to provide American workers and families with the opportunity to enhance their standards of living.
My prayer is that the highest priority in these troubling times remains simple: to drive sustained economic growth to achieve higher living standards for all Americans, and I believe that President Obama will make things right. It may take longer than 4 years, but I do believe that if we work with him, and give him a chance, things will get better.
My life has changed drastically, and now I only get the things that I need, instead of buying the things that I want. Self control is the key!