BY PHILIP ELLIOTT

Associated Press

OAK BLUFFS, Mass. -- Barack Obama's first presidential vacation began with a hurricane, was interrupted for a major economic announcement and is ending with a sad eulogy for a famous friend.

So much for the relaxation plan.

After a lightning-paced first seven months in office, this was hardly the long week of quiet time to catch his breath that Obama had sought.

"I think that when I said that the president wanted you guys to take long walks on the beach and relax and just enjoy yourselves and that there would be no news, maybe it was a little bit of wishful thinking," a slightly sheepish spokesman Bill Burton told reporters.

It's practically written into the presidential job description that no commander in chief can take a true turn-it-all-off vacation. He gets briefings from aides almost every day. World events invariably intrude. It's almost become a joke that the term "slow August" doesn't exist for a president.

And for this president, the intense interest in All Things Obama makes private time even more challenging.

"The president, when he ran for this office, knew that there would be no days where he was completely down," Burton said.

It could be argued that Obama needed a summer rest as much or more than any predecessor, given his unusually lengthy road to the White House and the extraordinary number of crises he confronted upon taking office. With a deep recession and two wars to deal with, Obama's hair has gone visibly grayer in just seven months.

He chose to schedule just a week on this idyllic island off the Massachusetts coast to recuperate and recharge for what promises to be a tough fall of health care debates and who knows what else.

The week got shortened at the very start by Hurricane Bill, which delayed Air Force One's departure from Washington Sunday.

Then Obama chose to announce on Tuesday that he would nominate Ben Bernanke for a second term as Federal Reserve chairman. Bernanke's term doesn't expire until early next year, but the president decided that speculation needed to be put to rest. The men appeared together for the announcement in business attire -- minus ties in a bow to vacation informality.

Then came the somber news of Sen. Edward Kennedy's death on nearby Cape Cod.

With more bad weather (this time Tropical Storm Danny) potentially bearing down on his vacation spot, Obama's plans for today were also reshuffled. He'll now fly tonight with his wife, Michelle, to Boston, where he is to deliver a eulogy at Kennedy's Saturday funeral before returning to the island. Aides said he was working hard on the address he will give about his friend and mentor.

White House officials said the Obamas are going to give vacationing a second try next week, with a five-day Labor Day weekend stay at the presidential retreat at Camp David, Md.

"The agenda is to try to get a little rest and relaxation," Burton said. "He's looking to get a break from his vacation."