English Across the Curriculum

The American President

Life of a President

An American President is always busy. He has several conferences and meets up to a hundred or more people every day.

The President lives in the White House in Washington,D.C. Most of the time he does his work in the Oval Office. There, he meets his helpers, leaders from other countries and other people. Presidents often spend their weekends at Camp David, a retreat in the Maryland mountains. There they relax, play golf, go riding and fishing and have time for their families.

Camp David retreat
Image : U.S. Navy Photographer, Public domain,
via Wikimedia Commons


The Secret Service protects the American President around the clock. It checks food and the hotels in which a President stays and plans his trips and journeys.

A President travels across the country or abroad in his own plane - Air Force One. It is a Boeing 747 in which he can work and live as he does in the White House.

Air Force One
Image : redlegsfan21, CC BY-SA 2.0,
via Wikimedia Commons, Public domain,


Even though presidents are closely protected some of them were killed in office. Abraham Lincoln was assassinated in 1865 when he was at a theatre performance. John F. Kennedy was murdered on the streets of Dallas, Texas in 1963.