Presidents Bush I and II enjoyed second homes in Kennebunkport, Maine, and Crawford, Texas. Ronald Reagan unwound by chopping wood on his ranch in Santa Barbara, and Richard Nixon escaped the pressures of the Vietnam War and Watergate by retreating to the oceanside California town of San Clemente.

But despite the wishes of President-elect Barack Obama's supporters in his Island home, the 5,000 miles between Hawai'i and Washington, D.C., and the 10 hours needed to fly each way — even in Air Force One — make it unlikely that Honolulu would serve as a White House of the Pacific.

"It will be difficult because of the mere geographic isolation of our islands," said State Sen. Clayton Hee, D-23rd (Kaneohe, Kahuku). "You can't get any further from Washington than Hawai'i. The prerequisites of the job of president of these United States make it difficult to make that 5,000-mile jaunt. It's not like slipping away to head down to Crawford, Texas."

Obama campaign officials yesterday said Obama would spend this weekend in Chicago — while also planning for a trip to Hawai'i in December.

Obama has often brought his family back to the Islands at Christmas, especially to visit his sister and his maternal grandmother, Madelyn Dunham. But campaign officials released no details about exactly when Obama will come in December and what he plans to do.

So it was unclear whether the trip would include services for Dunham, who died of cancer on the eve of Obama's election victory at the age of 86.

Borthwick Mortuary Hawai'i is handling the services for Dunham and contacted the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific at Punchbowl about holding a memorial service for her, said Gene Castagnetti, the cemetery's director.

Castagnetti said Borthwick officials did not suggest a date for a service and have not gotten back to him. Borthwick officials did not return several messages left by The Advertiser seeking comment.

Obama's maternal grandfather, Stanley Dunham — an Army sergeant during World War II — is inurned in the cemetery's columbarium, in niche 440. He died in 1992.

As his spouse, Madelyn Dunham also is eligible to be inurned in the same niche if the family wishes, Castagnetti said.

"She is an eligible widow," Castagnetti said.

While the cemetery has 9,568 niches and room for more urns, there is no space to bury Dunham at Punchbowl if she was not cremated, Castagnetti said.

ANTICIPATION IN CHICAGO

Obama made a point of visiting Dunham nearly every day during his weeklong family vacation in August. Even his supporters in the Islands said her death makes it less likely that Obama would use Hawai'i as a White House of the Pacific.

So his supporters in Illinois believe Chicago will become his favorite place to get away from Washington.

"Hyde Park would be his second home," said Matt Bagnola, assistant manager at one of Obama's favorite restaurants, Calypso Cafe, in Hyde Park, Ill. "He might want to go to Hawai'i to get away from all of the people. But he's so connected to everybody here. Right now, they have the streets around his house blocked off 24/7."

Most everyone in Illinois expects Chicago to serve as a Midwestern White House, said Illinois Sen. Terry Link, a fellow Democrat who sat next to Obama in the Illinois legislature.

"We're all anticipating it," Link said. "His home in Hyde Park is under surveillance by Secret Service and the Chicago Police all the time. Once he's president, it will just be heightened that much more."

But there are still exceptions in Chicago.

Like Link, retired Illinois state Sen. Denny Jacobs also played poker with Obama. Unlike Link, Jacobs believes Obama will return to Hawai'i frequently during his presidency to unwind with his wife, Michelle, and their two young daughters.

"With today's modern technology, I don't think it really matters where you're at," Jacobs said. "The red phone they always refer to doesn't always have to be in the president's office. I think he'll spend a lot of time in Hawai'i. I just get that gut feeling. If he has the choice of going to Chicago, which I dearly love, and Honolulu, I think he's going to Honolulu."

PROBLEMS WITH HAWAI'I

Even with modern technology, Hawai'i offers unique challenges for the next president.

In August, while on a family vacation in Honolulu, Russia invaded neighboring Georgia and Obama was criticized by conservative pundits and bloggers for commenting on the situation in front of a beachfront vacation home in Kailua.

Jim Jennings, a 40-year veteran of Washington politics who now works for Communications Pacific in Honolulu, commutes to O'ahu from his home in Hanalei on Kaua'i. Jennings remembers when former Vice President Al Gore was vacationing in Hanalei just as the Monica Lewinsky scandal broke during President Clinton's term.

"Gore had to be taken down to Lihu'e to make sure the satellites worked and to give him full communications to make a statement," said Jennings, CommPac's executive vice president and head of its corporate and public relations.

There are certainly differences between Obama's Island ties and other presidents' connections to their second White House.

Obama grew up in Dunham's two-bedroom apartment on Beretania Street, not some family compound where generations of relatives still gather like some other presidents' families.

"The calculation has more to do with where his current roots are," Jennings said. "He doesn't have a ranch or an oceanside compound where he's been going to."

Instead, Jennings believes that neither Chicago nor Honolulu will become Obama's favorite retreat. He thinks that nearby Camp David will better fit the needs of Obama and his children.

"I don't see him establishing a traditional getaway that also inherently exposes him and his family to media," Jennings said. "Camp David is right there, close to Washington, and provides an immense amount of security and privacy for his daughters. They can even bring their friends. It's low-key and will allow him to do his hobby, which is not chopping down trees like Reagan or Bush 43. His hobby is his work, digging into domestic and foreign policy."

It's even possible to turn one of Camp David's several outbuildings into an indoor basketball court to let Obama work off stress, even during winter, Jennings said.

U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie, (D-Hawai'i), frequently makes the long flight from the Capitol back to Honolulu and said the logistics of moving a U.S. president back and forth to the Islands several times a year would be tremendous.

"Given the pressures of the presidency, I just don't know," Abercrombie said. "You can't be president without an enormous entourage and enormous maneuvering just to move five feet outside."

But Abercrombie is certain that Obama will want to keep his children connected to his Island roots. And if Obama can't come back home as often as he wants, Abercrombie plans to bring a taste of the Islands back to Washington.

"I come home a couple of dozen times a year and I'll make sure to bring him plenty of chocolate macadamia nuts, Kona coffee and whatever Hawai'i necessities are required by the Obamas," he said. "Believe me, he'll get a constant supply. We'll bring Hawai'i to him."