The Seventh-Inning Stretch

Popular memory has been unkind to William Howard Taft, 27th President of the United States, who surely would have wished to be remembered for something nobler than his weight. At 300 pounds, he is the heaviest chief executive on record. It's the rare biographical sketch that doesn't mention the giant bathtub — spacious enough to accomodate four average-sized men — specially built for him in the White House. Baseball history has accorded him somewhat more dignity, for it was Taft who launched the tradition of the presidential first pitch on the opening day of the season. Read more...