Taft was big almost from birth. It's clear, however, that he had an enormous appetite. MORE

Taft's size impressed some people, but often made him the butt of jokes MORE. Note: Judged solely by body mass index, a 5-foot 11-inch person weighing more than 290 pounds is severely obese.

Be careful. The web has much information about Taft's body size, a great deal of it stemming from an unfortunate error-filled article in a medical journal in 2013 10 that Dr. Zebra took pains to refute 11. Taft was not 6-feet 2-inches tall and there is no record he ever weighed more than 340 pounts.

The President never takes anything to drink at all, but is most profligate in making others imbibe. I do not see how he sits through these long dinners and banquets without taking enough merely to exhilarate him, but he takes no alcoholic liquors of any kind and seems to be much the better for it.

Taft became non-compliant with his diet within a few years and his problem returned. In May 1908 he wrote his wife: "I have quit eating bacon in the morning for breakfast. I believe it gives me acidity of the stomach, and it is one of the most difficult things to digest I believe there are, if you take it as any substantial part of the meal. At least when I give it up, I cease to have trouble in the forenoon." 7e

Taft's voice, by the way, was tenor. This startled audiences who expected a deep bass from so big a man 14a.

The President was thrown from his horse this afternoon, but luckily not hurt. I am sure he is bruised and that he will be very sore to-morrow, but it was lucky that he was not killed. MORE

Within ten months, Taft had become very sensitive about the possibility he had gout, and tried hard to conceal the fact from his wife. He got angry at people who suggested his foot pain was gouty. The dialog between Taft and the physician who finally made the definitive diagnosis is priceless. MORE Taft's aides actively hid the gout from the public during his Presidency 1j. Taft continued to have attacks as President 17a and in later life wore a gout shoe 15b. He also developed gout stones in his urinary bladder (see below).

Taft was drenched with perspiration when he reached the Valley floor. His luggage was hours away, and there was no one within a hundred pounds of being able to lend him their clothes. "So while his clothes dried, the President went to bed and the affairs of State languished!" 18a.

During subsequent cross-country trips, sometimes giving 17 speeches a day, Taft wrote his wife almost daily about his voice (Sept. 17 - Oct. 30, 1911; May 13 - 19, 1912). 2i

Taft had several other mishaps in cars and trains during his public life MORE.

It is unclear if this was related to events Taft described to his wife three weeks later:

I had an attack of neuralgia in the side of my face especially in the region where the lower jaw hinges on the upper jaw. At first I thought it to be a tooth but I satisfied myself that this could not be. I called in Doctor Dr. Davis who is Dr. DeLaney's assistant and he gave me some medicine which seems to have moderated the pain much. It was difficult for me to eat and that you know is a terrible deprivation for me. 7r

In December 1922 "the Chief Justice told his relatives and friends about a brief period of hospitalization in which gravel had been removed from his bladder" 2k. These were "30 or 40 calculi or uric acid origin" 7ab, i.e. a complication of gout.

Shortly before he died in 1930, it was disclosed that Taft had chronic cystitis 14b

Some believe Taft had Alzheimer disease 6a. But, given his coronary disease (see below), it is likely he had cerebrovascular disease, too.

By spring 1929, when he was 71, it was widely known that Taft's health was not good. Rumors occasionally arose that he might retire 2p. Sick as he was, Taft desperately wanted to hold his place on the Supreme Court. "I am older and slower and less acute and more confused," he wrote to his brother in November 1929. "However, as long as things continue as they are, and I am able to answer in my place, I must stay on the court in order to prevent the Bolsheviki from getting control." 2q

Taft finally resigned from the Supreme Court on February 3, 1930. Two doctors issued the the following bulletin: "For some years Chief Justice Taft has had a very high blood pressure, associated with general arteriosclerosis and myocarditis. ... He has no fevers and suffers no pain. His present serious condition is the result of general arteriosclerotic changes" 14b. After lingering in a coma, he died on March 8. MORE