Press Conferences Not Obama’s Cup of Tea
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Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) — While some critics complain President Obama spends too much of the government’s money, what he doesn’t spend is a lot of time giving press conferences.
According to presidential scholar Martha Joynt Kumar, Obama has given 79 pressers during his first term in office. Obama said that his press conference on Jan. 14 was the last one he’ll do until after his second inauguration on Monday.
How does the president stack up against the three previous commanders in chief? He certainly wasn’t as anxious to meet the press in Term One as George W. Bush, who appeared 89 times, Bill Clinton, who held 133 pressers and the all-time winner, George H.W. Bush, with 142 press conferences.
However, Obama did give about three times as many as the late Ronald Reagan did during his first four years in office.
According to historian Kumar, press conferences “represent an important opportunity to explain their policies and their actions, as well as their goals.”
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