AHC: A Century of Overweight Presidents

[krinsbez]

Inspired by this thread, your challenge is to make a list of 100 years of US presidents who were overweight. The 100 years will run from 1912 (when our most obese president, Taft, left office) to 2012.

Rules:

1) These are public figures who could have reasonably been president and were noticeably overweight in real life. If you've got photographic evidence, they're valid.

2) Republicans and Democrats only.

3) Keep things reasonably politically balanced. There are 26 elections to cover. Keep the number of victories for each party pretty close, say no more unbalanced than 11/15 either way.

4) At least 17 men must hold office during this century. No "Fats McChubbo, beloved former senator from North Pudgesylvania elected to his unprecedented 8th term as president."

Good luck, everyone.

 

[Gorrister]

Well Taft for starters.

 

[Nofix]

1912: William Howard Taft, like most Americans at the time, considered himself a dead man running. The Republicans took a shellacking in the midterms and lost Congress for the first time in years to the Democrats, running popular New Jersey Governor Woodrow Wilson, and Roosevelt, former Republican President himself, was now running on his own third party "Bull Moose" ticket. Up until the last 2 months no one had thought it possible but Taft managed to become the only real candidate. Theodore Roosevelt was shot and bedridden for months, only being healthy enough to leave in late 1913, and Woodrow Wilson suffered a debilitating stroke. Other than his wife no one knew how bad it was for Wilson, but it somehow got leaked that Wilson was an invalid and suddenly Taft's only healthy challenger was Indiana Socialist Eugene V. Debs. Debs scored a record high votes for a Socialists, taking 12% of the vote to Roosevelt's 23% and Wilson 30%, Despite getting only around 35% of the vote, less than even Lincoln, Taft won almost 3/4 of the Electoral college, taking even some southern states. Vice President James Sherman, ironically, was the only man running that died that year, with Nicholas Butler chosen to replace him.

1916: Taft's policies further split the Republicans, despite retaining the Presidency and recapturing Congress. The Mexican Expedition was a bust, failing to catch Poncho Verde. The Imperial German Navy attacked an ship and that was casus belli for Taft to ask Congress to declare war. At first the war was widely opposed by Isolationists like La Follete, and congressmen with minority-majority German districts, but was popular with the general public. But the dragging pace of the war, and the high casualties called into question whether America could win it. Despite noticeable gains near the election, the Democrats recaptured Congress, the Presidency, and the people's hearts with Champ Clark. He was the first Speaker since Polk to ascend to the Presidency, and like Polk his term in office was dominated by a controversial War.
---

(OOC: 2 things, it's harder to find overweight politicians as a lot of them fluctuated in weight, Clark for example looked fat but I couldn't really tell. And two I was considering have the Republicans break up over WWI and come back as a new party, something more original than the Progressives, would that be ok?)

 

[cpip]

Well, assuming Taft didn't take it in '12, Champ Clark, Speaker of the House and the leader in delegates going into the 1912 Democratic Convention, was a large and hefty man as well, as was Oscar Underwood, one of the dark horse Democratic candidates (Minority Leader and chairman of Ways and Means). Underwood ran as a candidate again as late as 1924, so it's possible Underwood may come back later.

 

[krinsbez]

(OOC: 2 things, it's harder to find overweight politicians as a lot of them fluctuated in weight, Clark for example looked fat but I couldn't really tell. And two I was considering have the Republicans break up over WWI and come back as a new party, something more original than the Progressives, would that be ok?)

I'll allow it, tentatively; the rule was intended to prevent people from inventing third parties so they can throw in non-politicians.

 

[Expat]

I was just thinking we could end up with President Welles in this thread, too.

 

[LeX]

Make America as poor as North Korea. Most people will be skinny as hell and envy the fatasses who rule them.

 

[Nofix]

Eh, this is kinda boring and a rehash of what I already did. I'll just watch and probably not contribute this time.

 

[Emperor Norton I]

The phrase "The Henry Ford of Twinkies" keeps going through my head. I was thinking of some whacky Victorian or early century trend leading to fatness and fatness as a vogue.

Helping that, your grandparents didn't understand carbs. I'm not sure when the cut off date is for fatness being see as a sign of health (IE, plenty). I would say engineering American prosperity and an age of plenty, coupled with slothful activities, would help.

 

[AnywhereButOTL]

Heh. We might see a President Marlon Brando if he gets chubby at the end of his life like he did in real life.
Besides that there are plenty of hefty governors and senators just waiting to be transported to the presidency, we are in America after all.

 

[Alamo]

I take it that at the other end of the century, Chris Christie is a bit of a given? Or perhaps Mike Huckabee?

(far left)

 

[JVM]

I was going to bite but then I forgot how poor my political knowledge of the inter-war period is.

Clinton should count, based on his second term thru 2003.

 

[jpj1421]

Well... technically Christie would be outside the range for this scenario, but...

Let's work backwards:

Chris Christie (R-NJ) 2013 -
Al Sharpton (D-NY) 2009-2012*
Bill Richardson (D-NM) 2005-2009**
Newt Gingrich (R-GA) 2001-2005***

*Vice President Al Sharpton took office upon the resignation of President Richardson
**President Richardson resigned in his second term due to a financial scandal
***Speaker Newt Gingrich became President upon the Inauguration Day Attack that left President Elect John McCain and Vice President Elect Samuel Brownback dead


That's a really sucky decade.

/Edit

Some more
Ted Kennedy (D-MA) 1993-2001
Richard Cheney (R-WY) 1989-1993
David Boren (D-OK) 1981-1989

 

[jack_donaghy_is_the_shado]

Well... technically Christie would be outside the range for this scenario, but...

Let's work backwards:

Chris Christie (R-NJ) 2013 -
Al Sharpton (D-NY) 2009-2012*
Bill Richardson (D-NM) 2005-2009**
Newt Gingrich (R-GA) 2001-2005***

*Vice President Al Sharpton took office upon the resignation of President Richardson
**President Richardson resigned in his second term due to a financial scandal
***Speaker Newt Gingrich became President upon the Inauguration Day Attack that left President Elect John McCain and Vice President Elect Samuel Brownback dead


That's a really sucky decade.

/Edit

Some more
Ted Kennedy (D-MA) 1993-2001
Richard Cheney (R-WY) 1989-1993

Not exactly sure how many of these choices would be considered overweight. And should they be judged with a doctor's idea of overweight or society's?

Jesse Jackson (D-IL) 1985-1989
or
Lowell Weicker (R-CT) 1981-1989

Jesse Helms (R-NC) 1977-1981
Frank Church (D-ID) 1976-1977
Richard J. Daley (D-IL) 1973-1976 (D)
Lyndon B. Johnson (D-TX) 1965-1973
Earl Warren (R-CA) 1957-1965
Joseph McCarthy (R-WI) 1953-1957 (D)
Alben Barkley (D-KY) 1949-1953
Huey P. Long (D-LA) 1937-1949
William E. Borah (R-ID) 1929-1937
Charles W. Bryan (D-NE) 1925-1929
Hiram Johnson (R-CA) 1923-1925
Theodore Roosevelt (R-NY) (D) 1921-1923

 

[Expat]

It's kind of eye-opening to see who some people consider to be overweight. Jesse Jackson? LBJ?

Are people just looking at faces because "jowly" is not fat.

 

[I want to learn]

We kind of have to go off of appearance because I doubt that body mass index data on 3rd tier candidates from 80 years ago is readily available.

 

[kichinichini]

Picking up from jpj.

Chris Christie (R-NJ) 2013 -
Al Sharpton (D-NY) 2009-2012*
Bill Richardson (D-NM) 2005-2009**
Newt Gingrich (R-GA) 2001-2005***
Ted Kennedy (D-MA) 1993-2001
Richard Cheney (R-WY) 1989-1993
David Boren (D-OK) 1981-1989
John Tower (R-TX) 1977-1981

...

Fiorello LaGuardia (R-NY) 1941-1947

*Vice President Al Sharpton took office upon the resignation of President Richardson
**President Richardson resigned in his second term due to a financial scandal
***Speaker Newt Gingrich became President upon the Inauguration Day Attack that left President Elect John McCain and Vice President Elect Samuel Brownback dead

 

[kichinichini]

Overweight politicians aren't really notable. Newt Gingrich and Dick Cheney unfortunately don't really stand out. Same with Jesse Jackson, etc. On the other hand, if there was media hysteria about Clinton's health and emphasis on fitness of Presidents Obama and Bush, then it may still be an issue even if they are squarely average Americans.

I'm sure we can find truly obese candidates for the whole century though.

 

[Expat]

Overweight politicians aren't really notable. Newt Gingrich and Dick Cheney unfortunately don't really stand out. Same with Jesse Jackson, etc. On the other hand, if there was media hysteria about Clinton's health and emphasis on fitness of Presidents Obama and Bush, then it may still be an issue even if they are squarely average Americans.

I'm sure we can find truly obese candidates for the whole century though.

Seriously, people think Jesse Jackson is overweight? What pictures are folks basing this on?

 

[jack_donaghy_is_the_shado]

Sorry, the only pictures I saw of JJ weren't flattering. And from what I have heard Johnson was considered overweight and unhealthy by physicians and the WH chef struggled between Johnson dietary wants and needs.

I offered up Lowell Weicker for two terms instead of one Jackson, but again, I just briefly looked up some pics from wikipedia and google.

Maybe Mondale? My dislike of the man aside, wasn't he a tad overweight in '84?