President William Howard Taft in front of a background of Thanksgiving and Fall themed food
America’s 27th President, William Howard Taft, also later became the 10th Chief Justice on the Supreme Court. Taft was notably a member of the Skull and Bones secret society at Yale and his father was a founding member. William Howard Taft is also known for being the heaviest President in US history, weighing between 325 and 354 pounds during his time in office
We have recently been highlighting the daily diets of U.S. Presidents throughout the history of our great nation and today we dive into everything President William Taft would eat in a given day, and how his daily diet began with a breakfast that would leave most feeling full all day
Could You Eat President William Howard Taft’s Diet For 24 Hours?
First things first, let’s take a look at what President William Howard Taft’s diet looked like for the most important meal of the day: breakfast. He would begin his day with steak because of course he would. 12oz of steak to be exact. But he would never stop at just steak
This YouTube Shorts clip from Bennett Rea at Cookin’ With Congress breaks down what the start to President Taft’s day looked like:
In that clip above, he eats an exact breakfast menu that was eaten by President William Howard Taft on the campaign trail. Taft’s breakfast diet that day consisted of the following: (1) 12oz steak, (2) 1 grapefruit, (3) a sizable serving of jumbo Gulf shrimp, (4) hominy, (5) potted partridge, (6) grilled partridge, (7) broiled venison, (8) an additional serving of venison, (9) 2 large waffles with syrup and butter, (10) 2 buttered rolls, (11) and 2 cups of coffee
I asked an AI bot to estimate the calories in that breakfast and it came up with an estimate of between 3,500–4,650 calories, settling on 4,000 calories to be safe… Just for breakfast
Taft’s Lunch
After a breakfast of that stature many would be full for hours but not President William Howard Taft. At lunch he would take down (1) 4 lamb chops, (2) turtle soup, (3) Bermuda potatoes, (4) 5 bonbons with raspberry jelly and whipped cream, (5) salted almonds, (6) and coffee
The same AI bot above estimated the calories of William Howard Taft’s diet for lunch at around 2,200 calories which seems low as turtle soup can be so rich but we’ll go with that estimate for now, putting him at 6,200 calories between breakfast and lunch
What Did President Taft Eat For Dinner?
For President William Howard Taft, dinner was the heaviest meal of the day. Mind you, he has already taken down around 6,200 calories before sitting down to the dinner table and the average daily caloric intake for adult males ranges between 2,000 to 3,000 calories, so he is anywhere from 2-3x the average before even eating dinner
Going back to Cookin’ With Congress, Bennett Rea has a video from May of last year where he spent 24 hours eating President William Howard Taft’s daily diet. I have set the video to start at dinnertime below with a full listing of what Taft ate underneath the video
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Aaaaand we’re back. For dinner, President William Howard Taft’s diet would typically consist of (1) salad with olives, hearts of palm, cucumber, and asparagus, (2) ‘a rich’ lobster stew, (3) roast turkey with potato salad and peas, (4) an 8oz steak and an additional side salad, (5) salmon fillet, and (6) possum served with sweet potatoes
Going back to the AI estimation, it puts the ballpark for William Howard Taft’s dinner at between 2,770 and 4,150 calories, with 3,400 calories as a safe estimate. That brings the daily progressive total of calories in William Howard Taft’s diet up to 9,700 calories and counting because we’re not done! There is still dessert to come
For President Taft’s dessert, he would take down (1) a plate of fruit, (2) coffee, (3) four color cream fruit pie. The estimated calories for that dessert are at around 750 which feels low given the pie but we’ll roll with it
That brings the daily estimated calories in President William Howard Taft’s diet up to 10,450 calories across three meals
Could you eat like President Taft for 24 hours? Could you even make it through his dinner? I could definitely keep up with him through breakfast and lunch but I wouldn’t be able to keep pace dish-for-dish at dinner. Let me know what you think down below in the comment section!
READ NEXT: Could You Survive Eating President George Washington’s Diet For 24 Hours? Here’s Everything He Ate In A Day
