Statistikhengst
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This article:
A History of Fat Presidents - Forbes
Came out in 2011, not 2013 or 2014.
It lists the five presidents who were technically obese.
William Howard Taft (R): 1909-1913
Grover Cleveland (D): 1885-1889, 1893-1897
William McKinley (R): 1897-1901
Zachary Taylor (Whig): 1849-1850
T. Roosevelt (R): 1901-1909
It lists an old BMI index of the gentlemen.
Taft is the best known case, for he was definitely the fattest of all of our presidents. The story of the bathtub is indeed a true one. What is less known about Taft is that he never really wanted to be President, he really wanted to be a Supreme Court justice (as wish that would be fullfilled after his term in office). In fact, immediately after leaving office, he dropped 30 pounds very quickly.
Teddy Roosevelt was big, but he also lifted weights and ran.
Bill Clinton was overweight while in office, but he was not obese. Since his heart condition, he has become much leaner.
There were other presidents who were overweight, but not technically obese:
Warren Harding (R): 1921-1923
FDR (D): 1933-1945
Actually, before the polio struck, FDR, who was a tall man, was quite lean. Here is a pic of him as Vice-Presidential nominee in the 1920 campaign:
Ulysees S. Grant (R): 1869-1877
The war-worn, extremely popular General started pretty lean in office, but he picked-up a lot of weight while in office.
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I think it is fair to say that, by and large, our Presidents since Harry Truman have been pretty lean, and most of them were quite fit.
Harry Truman (D): 1945-1953
Truman had a normal build and was known to eat pretty frugally.
Dwight D. Eisenhower (R): 1953-1961
Eisenhower as a football player:
John F. Kennedy (D): 1961-1963
Before his illness, Kennedy was quite an athletic man.
Lyndon Baines Johnson (D): 1963-1968
Neither fat nor thin, LBJ had an average stature.
Richard Nixon (R): 1969-1974
Nixon also played football as a young man:
Gerald R. Ford (R): 1974-1977
Ford was one of the fittest presidents we ever had. He was also probably the most talented football player of the bunch:
(University of Michigan, 1933)
Jimmy Carter (D): 1977-1981
Carter was a lean man, and stayed quite fit.
Ronald R. Reagan (R): 1981-1989
Reagan also played college football, but was better know for his looks as a hollywood actor:
The President's commission on fitness was started during the Reagan administration. In his 70s, Reagan was not the leanest man in the world, but he stayed active.
George Herbert Walker Bush (R): 1989-1993
Bush as a college footballer:
Bill Clinton (D): 1993-2001
Bill looked relatively lean on the campaign trail in 1992, but he picked up weight while in office. He was probably our heaviest president since FDR. Since leaving office, after his heart condition was diagnosed, he has lost a lot of weight.
George W. Bush, Jr. (R): 2001-2009
and young George W. Bush:
He was a football cheerleader:
At the time he was a football cheerleader, it was quite normal for males to do this.
President Bush did not smoke and he gave up drinking years before. He also had a strict morning workout regimine. He is probably one of the fittest presidents we ever had.
Barack H. Obama (D): 2009-
And a young Obama:
There is no doubt that President Obama is one of the leanest Presidents we have ever had. Not a football officionado, he prefers basketball.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I hope you enjoyed this picture gallery of many of our presidents.
Were Chris Christie to be elected to the Presidency in 2016, he would be our first fat President since late FDR and our first really obese President since Taft.
You can see from the listing that we went through a period after the Civil War, during and beyond the so called "gilded Age", where most pols were quite rotund.
This is no way denigrates Gov. Christie, his weight would not be a factor in my decision to vote or to not vote for him.
But in this media-dominated age, it would be interesting to see if a truly fat person would even have a chance at the Presidency.
On my list of the fittest president ever, I would have these names, in reverse chronological order:
Barack Obama
George W. Bush, Jr.
George W. Bush, Sr.
Gerald Ford
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Harry Truman
Woodrow Wilson
Feel free to add any information over the fitness of our presidents that you think is appropriate.
A History of Fat Presidents - Forbes
Came out in 2011, not 2013 or 2014.
It lists the five presidents who were technically obese.
William Howard Taft (R): 1909-1913
Grover Cleveland (D): 1885-1889, 1893-1897
William McKinley (R): 1897-1901
Zachary Taylor (Whig): 1849-1850
T. Roosevelt (R): 1901-1909
It lists an old BMI index of the gentlemen.
Taft is the best known case, for he was definitely the fattest of all of our presidents. The story of the bathtub is indeed a true one. What is less known about Taft is that he never really wanted to be President, he really wanted to be a Supreme Court justice (as wish that would be fullfilled after his term in office). In fact, immediately after leaving office, he dropped 30 pounds very quickly.
Teddy Roosevelt was big, but he also lifted weights and ran.
Bill Clinton was overweight while in office, but he was not obese. Since his heart condition, he has become much leaner.
There were other presidents who were overweight, but not technically obese:
Warren Harding (R): 1921-1923
FDR (D): 1933-1945
Actually, before the polio struck, FDR, who was a tall man, was quite lean. Here is a pic of him as Vice-Presidential nominee in the 1920 campaign:
Ulysees S. Grant (R): 1869-1877
The war-worn, extremely popular General started pretty lean in office, but he picked-up a lot of weight while in office.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
I think it is fair to say that, by and large, our Presidents since Harry Truman have been pretty lean, and most of them were quite fit.
Harry Truman (D): 1945-1953
Truman had a normal build and was known to eat pretty frugally.
Dwight D. Eisenhower (R): 1953-1961
Eisenhower as a football player:
John F. Kennedy (D): 1961-1963
Before his illness, Kennedy was quite an athletic man.
Lyndon Baines Johnson (D): 1963-1968
Neither fat nor thin, LBJ had an average stature.
Richard Nixon (R): 1969-1974
Nixon also played football as a young man:
Gerald R. Ford (R): 1974-1977
Ford was one of the fittest presidents we ever had. He was also probably the most talented football player of the bunch:
(University of Michigan, 1933)
Jimmy Carter (D): 1977-1981
Carter was a lean man, and stayed quite fit.
Ronald R. Reagan (R): 1981-1989
Reagan also played college football, but was better know for his looks as a hollywood actor:
The President's commission on fitness was started during the Reagan administration. In his 70s, Reagan was not the leanest man in the world, but he stayed active.
George Herbert Walker Bush (R): 1989-1993
Bush as a college footballer:
Bill Clinton (D): 1993-2001
Bill looked relatively lean on the campaign trail in 1992, but he picked up weight while in office. He was probably our heaviest president since FDR. Since leaving office, after his heart condition was diagnosed, he has lost a lot of weight.
George W. Bush, Jr. (R): 2001-2009
and young George W. Bush:
He was a football cheerleader:
At the time he was a football cheerleader, it was quite normal for males to do this.
President Bush did not smoke and he gave up drinking years before. He also had a strict morning workout regimine. He is probably one of the fittest presidents we ever had.
Barack H. Obama (D): 2009-
And a young Obama:
There is no doubt that President Obama is one of the leanest Presidents we have ever had. Not a football officionado, he prefers basketball.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I hope you enjoyed this picture gallery of many of our presidents.
Were Chris Christie to be elected to the Presidency in 2016, he would be our first fat President since late FDR and our first really obese President since Taft.
You can see from the listing that we went through a period after the Civil War, during and beyond the so called "gilded Age", where most pols were quite rotund.
This is no way denigrates Gov. Christie, his weight would not be a factor in my decision to vote or to not vote for him.
But in this media-dominated age, it would be interesting to see if a truly fat person would even have a chance at the Presidency.
On my list of the fittest president ever, I would have these names, in reverse chronological order:
Barack Obama
George W. Bush, Jr.
George W. Bush, Sr.
Gerald Ford
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Harry Truman
Woodrow Wilson
Feel free to add any information over the fitness of our presidents that you think is appropriate.
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