If you think weight-loss struggles are a modern problem, think again.
President William Howard Taft, the 27th president of the United States that served from 1909 to 1913, was 6 feet 2 inches tall and he fluctuated from more than 350 to 255 pounds. President Taft had a specially constructed bathtub which was characterized by the press as having "pond-like dimensions" and was "capable of holding four ordinary men."
From those reports you might think President Taft would have just spent his free time raiding the White House fridge.
But newly unearthed letters and diaries of President William Howard Taft show that the famously "corpulent" president kept a food diary, eliminated fatty foods and empty calories, and employed a "physical culture man"—the 1909 version of a personal trainer—to help him keep the pounds off.
Dr. Deborah Levine, assistant professor of health policy and management at Providence College, recently unearthed many of President Taft's papers. She discusses her findings, published this week in The Annals of Internal Medicine.
The show is a co-production of WNYC Radio and Public Radio International, in collaboration with New York Times Radio and WGBH Boston.
Major funding provided by:
Leave a Comment
Register for your own account so you can vote on comments, save your favorites, and more. Learn more.
Please stay on topic, be civil, and be brief.
Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments. Names are displayed with all comments. We reserve the right to edit any comments posted on this site. Please read the Comment Guidelines before posting. By leaving a comment, you agree to New York Public Radio's Privacy Policy and Terms Of Use.