William Taft Bathtub
Monday, August 18th, 2008
Poor William Taft. He was probably the largest president to enter the White House in the history of the United States; and though he probably had little trouble navigating the confines of the places, there was one location that always stymied his prodigious girth.
The bathtub.
Bathtubs are usually pretty spacious. There may not be enough room lengthwise, but the width is seldom a problem. So it’s a bit remarkable that Taft, who weighed somewhere in the vicinity of 330 pounds, couldn’t fit in the bathtub that was already installed in the White House. In fact he was forced to have it removed after he got stuck in it one evening, and he had a much larger replacement installed to accommodate himself.
Poor, poor guy. That must’ve been extremely embarrassing. If you want an idea of just how big the President was, check out this replica of the tub he had installed (the original was cracked on its way out of the House later on).