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President Obama and his family depart for Martha’s Vineyard on Thursday – a vacation that has become a source of political contention as Republicans accuse the first family of frolicking while the rest of the country struggles through economic hard times.

There’s plenty of research demonstrating that vacations are good for one’s mental health, and there’s no reason that wouldn’t apply to the commander-in-chief.

"A vacation is not a luxury – it’s an investment in your health," Jens Pruessner, an associate professor in the departments of psychology, psychiatry, neurology and neurosurgery at Ï㽶ÊÓƵ in Montreal, said in a Los Angeles Times story from Memorial Day weekend (the unofficial start of the summer vacation season).