What the Obamas Did at Camp David

In the book Inside Camp David: The Private World of the Presidential Retreat, Rear Admiral and former camp commander Michael Giorgione examines how first families spent their time at the retreat. According to the book, former President Barack Obama didn’t go to the camp as often as Michelle and their two daughters, Sasha and Malia. When Michelle visited she often brought a crew of friends, and once hosted Beyoncé to celebrate the artist’s birthday. “Like Bess Truman, Michelle Obama enjoyed bringing female friends for the weekend, along with a chef to prepare healthy meals,” Giorgione writes. “She and her friends would work out pretty intensely — up to three times a day in the gym, with Marines holding the punching bags — then relax by the pool, laughing and talking.” When President Obama did visit, he loved to play “a hard-fought basketball game” and once “got knocked to the ground in an aggressive scramble,” Giorgione writes, adding that everyone was upset, except for the president. More here.