we are joined here on american history tv by lawrence knutson, author of "away from the white house: presidential escapes, retreats, and vacations." you covered the white house and washington for many years. is a president ever really away from his job? >> caller: never really. they certainly try and i have since the first president, george washington, broke off from his desk in philadelphia. when the coach and four horses went home. they haven't -- president kennedy's speech writer and special council said what many presidents said that a president's office is where he may be. unlike congress or the supreme court, the presidency never adjou adjourns. >> what roll does politics play in presidential vacations, getaways? >> i'm not sure what. i think the need to get away is probably predominant as we have seen in recent presidencies. if you have your own home, you tend to go to it. otherwise, like president obama, you go to a place that interests you and you probably, because of security concerns, have to get a rented property. >> do you think it's just the president or the public -- d

we are joined on american history tv by lawrence knutson, author of "away from the white house: presidentialcapes, retreats, and vacations." you covered the white house and washington for many years. it's a president every really away from his job? >> never really. george washington broke off from his desk in philadelphia. to mt. vernon. president kennedy's speech writer and special counsel said what many presidents have said, that a president's office is wherever the president maybe. unlike congress or the supreme court, the presidency never adjourns. >> what role does politics play in presidential vacations, presidential getaways? >> i am not sure what. i think the need to get away is probably predominant. as we have seen in recent presidencies. if you have your own home, you tend to go to it. otherwise, like president obama, you go to a place of interest to you. and because of security concerns, you have to get a rented property. >> do you think it is just the press or the public -- does the public understand that the president needs to get away from the pressures of the job or is it the

we've been speaking with lawrence knutson, the author. thanks for being with us on american history tv. >> thank you. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2014] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] >> president ford pardoned former president nixon on september 8, 1970 4, 1 month after the only presidential resignation in american history. up next, on the presidency, author and history professor john robert green considers two questions. why did gerald ford pardoned richard nixon, and was there a deal between the two man? he discusses the days leading up to the pardon. mr. green is the author of the presidency of gerald ford. this hour-long event was hosted by the kansas city public library and the truman library institute. following the program, here gerald ford's 10-minute speech here on american history tv. >> hello, and welcome to the kansas city public library. i am director of public affairs. i want to thank you in joining us for the latest iteration of our hail to the chief lecture series, cochaired

we are joined here on american history tv by lawrence knutson, author of "away from the white house:esidential escapes, retreats, and vacations." you covered the white house and washington for many years. is a president ever really away from his job? >> caller: never really. they certainly try and i have since the first president, george washington, broke off from