President Obama was forced to cancel his plans to attend the funeral on Sunday after the ash plume from the eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland caused 26 European countries to close their airspace to air travel. President Obama took advantage of the unexpected free time in his calendar to head to the golf course at Andrews Air Force Base.
Polish People Offended
The Polish people were noticeable upset with what they perceived as a lack of respect. The Warsaw Business Journal lead with a headline, "Obama Goes Golfing Instead of Attending Kaczynski's Funeral." Further exacerbating matters, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Vice President Biden have both stopped by the Polish embassy to sign a book of condolences, while President Obama has not yet done so.
Polish President Killed in Plane Crash
Kaczynski, his wife, and 94 other people were killed on April 10, 2010 when the airplane they were traveling in clipped a tree and crashed as they were approaching Smolensk Airport in western Russia. The delegation was scheduled to visit the site of the Katyn Massacre. Investigators have blamed the crash on fog.
The funeral was held on Sunday as planned with over 100,000 in attendance. A large number of the world leaders that had been expected to attend the ceremony had to send their regrets because of cancelled flights in and to Europe.
Golf and the Presidents
According to BBC News, President Obama has played golf 32 times since he took office in January 2009. In comparison, President George W. Bush played golf only 24 times while in the White House. He achieved that number in the first two years and nine months of his presidency.
After the invasion of Iraq in 2003, Bush gave up playing golf, saying that he felt that it sent the "wrong signal" to the country and to family members of deployed service members to have the President golfing during a war. "I don't want some mom whose son may have recently died to see the commander in chief playing golf," he said.
Following his inauguration, President Obama brought golf back to the White House. He was photographed with Vice President Joseph Biden practicing their putts on the White House putting Green. President Obama usually plays golf on his free Sundays at the Fort Belvoir golf course in Virginia, returning home immediately after the 18th hole in time to have dinner with his wife, Michelle, and his daughters, Sasha and Malia..
A number of U.S. presidents have been avid golfers, including John F. Kennedy, Dwight Eisenhower, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, Gerald R. Ford, and Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Beth Anderle - A retired US Army officer, Beth has been writing professionally and personally for many years but has only recently made the transition to ...
