Election Section

President turns 56 Saturday 

KENNEBUNKPORT, Maine — President Bush shuttered the White House to business Friday and escaped — with a gaggle of daughters, nieces, nephews, brothers and wayward pets — for a long birthday weekend at the seaside compound where his family has summered for more than 100 years. 

First up: a spin in his father’s speed boat with daughter Jenna. No driving privileges for the birthday boy, though; it was the former president at the wheel when the boat zipped into a cove, and the current president called out to neighbors that he felt great. 

The president, who turns 56 on Saturday, flew to his parents’ home on the rocky Maine coast after a quick morning phone call to Afghan President Hamid Karzai. Beyond that and his daily intelligence briefings, Bush planned little more taxing than some golf and fishing before his Monday afternoon return to work in Washington.