Poor Barack Obama. Every time the president-elect wants to take his family on vacation to visit his Hawaii stomping gorunds, some member of the conservative press is on his case about the state being "too exotic" or "too elitist." Yes, like Obama, Hawaii is uppity.

Funnily enough, our great nation was founded on leaders who liked to skip out on their duties and take tropical vacations. And even the POTUSes who stay in the country (like Barack Obama!) for their sojourns often find themselves holing up near the water.

Below, the top five elitist getaways and the presidents who dared to venture off our continent for a little "me" time.

Jamaica

Gerald Ford's favorite vacation spot, Jamaica had strained relations with the U.S. during the president's entire term, as the island nation's Prime Minister Michael Manley insisted his country stop trying to act like a U.S. Commonwealth. Jamaica's subsequent buddy-buddy relations with Cuba didn't help matters either, but that didn't stop Gerald Ford from chillaxing out on his pad in Montego Bay right after he won the 1972 election.

Awesome: Unlimited sunshine and piña coladas

Not So Awesome: An island can be attacked from 360 degrees of shoreline

Bahamas

Franklin Roosevelt's travel itinerary while president is a really easy read. It's almost entirely Bahamas, Panama, Bahamas, United Kingdom, Bahamas, France, Panama, Panama, Bahamas. Seriously, it's good to be king (in a democratic government).

Awesome: Like Roosevelt, Bahamians speak English

Not So Awesome: The logo the Bahamas is using to promote itself right now

Key West

Harry S. Truman was fond of the Straits of Florida for his days away from D.C., although the way the Truman ran it, taking a vacation was no day at the beach (blegch). Harry preferred to hang out at the Submarine Base in the Keys and take the captured German U-Boats underwater and drive them around a bit to clear his head. You know, normal vacation stuff.

Awesome: Choosing a domestic vacation, Truman avoided being labeled a Commie

Not So Awesome: The only thing connecting Key West to civilization is a 7-mile bridge that looks like a big wave could severe it

Martha's Vineyard

Oh, the Clintons and their little soirées out east on Martha's Vineyard, laughing with all their affluent friends and sipping highballs like they were in a damn F. Scott Fitzgerald novel. Who did those two think they were? When word came back to Washington that vacationing on the island wasn't doing much for their public perception, Hillary and Bill decided to make Wyoming their official vacay spot. Boring, stupid Wyoming.

Awesome: The Black Dog

Not So Awesome: The Black Dog t-shirts

Hyannis

For some reason, when the Clintons went to Cape Cod, Americans thought them snooty and elitist. But when the Kennedys did it, they were pure glam. Oh well, that's what you get when you live in Camelot. JFK and Jackie-O frequently vacationed up in Nantucket in the Kennedy Compound — their name for the six acres of waterfront property that surrounded the house that John grew up in.

Awesome: Your family's estate is referred to as the freakin' "Kennedy Compound"

Not So Awesome: It'll forever be remembered as the final destination JFK Jr. never made it to