Many anecdotes have been passed down regarding Taft's tremendous weight. One of the most famous concerns him getting stuck in the Presidential bathtub and thus ordering a replacement - large enough to fit four average-sized men! Taft even had a new bed constructed at his friend Todd Lincoln's (son of Abraham) house because the springs in the original mattress broke under his weight.
Yet, Taft was not always obese. He was a collegiate wrestler at 225 lbs. and by all accounts quite athletic. He steadily gained weight after graduating college, eventually ballooning to 320 lbs. in 1905, at which point he began his first diet. Before the era of diet books (let alone DVDs) and personal trainers, physicians often constructed and oversaw their patients' weight loss regimens.
It is no surprise then that Taft enlisted the services of Dr. Nathaniel Yorke-Davies, a London physician, who created a personalized "reducing" diet for the War Minister. The diet consisted primarily of meat and vegetables and outlawed fruits, grains (except gluten-free biscuits), and sugar. In short, it was a low-carbohydrate diet. Taft presumably followed the diet because 6 months later he was a relatively svelte 255 lbs. Once at his target weight Taft adhered to Yorke-Davies' "stationary" or maintenance diet (the reducing diet plus some grains)...at least for a few months.
It seems that in addition to dieting, yo-yo dieting also existed in the early 20th century. According to an account by White House mailman of over 50 years Ira Smith, Taft's appetite during his diet became so voracious that he once ordered that a train he was riding on be rerouted so that a dining car could be attached to it- at 10:00 p.m.! (read the full account of the incident here).
Taft reached his all time high of 340 lbs. in 1913 and embarked on a second "reducing diet" shortly after leaving the office of President. After dropping to about 270 lbs., he managed to control his weight for the remainder of his life.
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President Taft in 1907, about one year after his first diet. |
Unfortunately for Taft, his characterization as a perpetually obese man was mostly a result of bad timing. Although Taft was one-half inch shy of 6 feet and close to 250 lbs for most of his life, his twin peaks of 320 and 340 lbs. occurred as War Minister and President, respectively (see chart below). And that is why he is remembered as the fattest U.S. President (among other things, of course).
Note: Need a mnemonic device to remember the fattest President? Just rearrange the letters in "Taft" and you get "Fatt."
Additional Resources
Presidential Trivia (Ernie Couch)
Thats Just Mean. You People should be ashamed of yourselves.
ReplyDeleteI was the anonymous person above. This Is quite cruel of you to publish for everyone on the planet to see. You people make me sick.
Deletei agree
DeleteHe was a fat bast..d
ReplyDeleteThat's a rude.
Deletewell all you are is a rude bast..d
DeleteTo the person above its not like he's going to serf the web and read it.
ReplyDeleteha ha hes fulffy
ReplyDeletethats a nicer way to put it
DeleteGood ol' Fat Taft
ReplyDeleteEven though he is fat he was still a good president and contributed well to our society
ReplyDeleteYes
DeleteLooks like he was a stress eater
ReplyDeleteand i bet YOU eat your emotions
Delete...then he had a LOT of stress.
Deletehi
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DeleteGreetings!
Deletedon't blaim him
ReplyDeleteyes you should not blaim him
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeletewell no one should be saying anything when half of these i read were from... ANONYMOUS dont say something if you arent going to stand up and take credit for what you say so just shut up and quite frankly he contributed very good to our society and even if he was fat he didnt run us under like half of our skinny and more recent presidents so yea.....
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ReplyDeletePoop he is soo freaking fat
ReplyDeletepres taft , poor wife ellen, just think all that flab on top of her.....yuck!
ReplyDeleteyeah
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ReplyDeleteHis obesity has now be Trumped!
ReplyDelete