TAFT, 27th, 1909-19

Throughout his life, William Howard Taft's weight generally paralleled his unhappiness. Taft was 5 feet 11.5 inches tall. He weighed 243 pounds when he graduated from college. He weighed 335-340 pounds when he left the White House.

The one thing that Taft never asked of his portraitists was to slim him down. When told his likeness made him look pudgy, Taft answered, "But I am pudgy."

He consumed eight-course breakfasts.

Through his mother, Taft was a seventh cousin twice removed of Richard Nixon.

He was indolent, irresolute, dependent, and undone by opposition and criticism. Taft thrived by anchoring himself to intimates and striving to please them by doing what they thought best. Taft's course had been set by a voracious, controlling wife, Nellie, and overbearing mother who pushed him toward the Presidency.

Taft only ever wanted to be Chief Justice on the Supreme Court. Taft was appointed in 1923 — the only President ever to serve on the high court. He remains the only person to have led both the Executive and Judicial branches of the United States government. When asked about his time on the Supreme Court and as President, Chief Justice Taft allegedly remarked, "I don't remember that I ever was President."

Taft's voice was tenor. This startled audiences who expected a deep bass from so big a man.

Taft had severe obstructive sleep apnea — a disease that steals energy, stamina, intellect, patience, forgiveness, and life. Taft wrote that he "developed a pain in the joint of the big toe due I suppose to standing so long when shaking hands in one position. Doctor suspects a little gout, but this is too aristocratic for me."

Taft did not use alcohol. He did not smoke. He did not stay up late and sacrifice sleep. His only dissipation was food. Taft owned a Holstein cow, Pauline Wayne, which he let graze freely on the White House lawn. Pauline was the last cow to live at the White House.

Taft was the first President to ride in an automobile.

Even during his term, Taft persisted in addressing Theodore Roosevelt as "Mr. President." Roosevelt continued to object, and Taft repeatedly overruled him, declaring that he always thought of Roosevelt as President.

Although his general health declined, Taft was his normal alert self as December 1929 ended. By the end of January 1930 he was hallucinating. By the end of February 1930 he was intermittently comatose. He was dead on March 8.

Died March 8, 1930 (Washington, DC) at 72 of a heart ailment.