![]() severe obesity |
"Not much can be said about Taft's health without saying a great deal about his size"
1a.
Taft was 5 feet 11.5 inches tall
2.
He weighed 243 pounds when he graduated from college
3a
and, by all accounts, carried it well. By age 48, when he had been Secretary of War for two
years, he weighed 320 pounds
3b.
Under the guidance of English physician
Dr. N. E. Yorke-Davies,
he lost 70 pounds over the next year and a half
3b.
But two years after that, he was once again over 300 pounds
MORE.
He weighed 335-340 pounds when he left the White House [see photo
MORE
]. He then lost weight rapidly, dropping to 270 in a year and a half. The summer before he
died, he weighed 244 pounds, just one pound more than his college weight. Details and graphs
are available on the Apneos web site and in reference
4.
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
SEE BELOW.
Note: Judged solely by body mass index, a 5-foot 11-inch person weighing more than 290 pounds
is severely obese.
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Taft's size made him an imposing presence:
More often, however, Taft's size made him the target of jokes. "They made infinite jests ahout his fatness -- and no one heard or repeated the jokes with greater savor than Taft himself. Making a speech he would pause, with an effect of suspense, just long enough to intensify the audience's attention; then throughout the immense torso and up into the broad features would run little tremors and heavings, rising to a climax in a rumbling chuckle as infectious as only a fat man could achieve, and Taft would tell a story in which the point was, as he would say in an engaging falsetto, 'on me.'" 5a
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a p.167
Comment: Devotes one chapter to each President, through Clinton. Written for the layperson, well-referenced, with areas of speculation clearly identified, Dr. Zebra depends heavily on this book. Dr. Bumgarner survived the Bataan Death March and has written an unforgettable book casting a physician's eye on that experience.
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a pp.111-112 b pp.113-114
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a p.1072 b p.287 c p.334
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a p.III-14 b p.III-14 quoting Arthur Brisbane c pp.III-15-16 quoting Frederick Palmer d pp.III-14-15 e p.III-15 f p.IV-408
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a p.133
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a p.134
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a p.76
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a p.165
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a p.28 b p.68
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a p.57 b pp.57-58
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