Presidents Are People Too!
By Nicholas Isaacs
Everyone usually thinks that the life of a president in the White House is perfect. But it sometimes doesn’t turn out that way! Here are two funny stories about Presidential bathing mishaps.
In the 1820’s during the sixth president’s term, John Quincy Adams the president, went to take a 5am bath, naked, in the Potomac river. Keep in mind, these were the days before the protection of the Secret Service. While President Adams was mid-swim a woman snuck up and sat on his clothes that were on the shoreline. The woman was a reporter and refused to get off his clothes until he agreed to be interviewed by her. Up until that time, no woman reporter had ever interviewed the president.
If you thought that was funny, listen to this! In the 1910’s during the 27th president, William Howard Taft’s term, he went to take a bath in a White House bathtub. But then the unthinkable happened: he got stuck! How did that happen? Well, some of you might not know this, but Taft was actually our largest president, weighing about 320 pounds. Eventually, they were able to get the president out with a crane. And they also installed a new White House tub that could fit 4 average sized men.
So there you go. That is how some presidents’ lives go. I’ll see you all next time!
