George W. Bush: Daily Routine

With 5am wake-ups, midday jogs, and 10pm bedtimes, Bush’s presidency was powered by structure, sleep, and a Springer Spaniel named Spot.

Unlike his predecessor, Bill Clinton who typically led an unstructured day and was late to most of his appointments, and compared to Barack Obama, who preferred working in the late hours of the night, George W. Bush prioritised structure, routine and early mornings during his presidency.

As a creature of habit, the 43rd President of the United States woke up at 5am every day and would be in the Oval Office for early morning briefings. “I go to work a little before 7 a.m., and I expect everybody to show up on time when I have a meeting,” Bush said in an interview with Runner’s World. A 2008 New York Times profile featured a typical morning for Bush as described by White House Press Secretary Dana Perino:

Mr. Bush has always been an early-to-bed, early-to-rise kind of guy, and he typically arrives at the Oval Office by 6:45 a.m., Ms. Perino said, for briefings from his national security adviser, Stephen J. Hadley, and chief of staff, Joshua B. Bolten. He holds regular secure video-conferences with various world leaders, among them the president of Afghanistan and the prime minister of Iraq.