Hi Puzzlers,
Presidents Day is Monday February 15th and I thought it would be fun to take a look at what some of the Presidents did as hobbies. Why HOBBIES, you may ask? Well, I think looking at the hobbies of the Presidents allows us to see a side of a President’s personality that we may have never known.
Take, for example, Calvin Coolidge. He liked to play the harmonica, ride a mechanical bull, and used “Indian Clubs” for exercise. First of all, what is an Indian Club? And, second, Calvin Coolidge looks so refined and proper that the image of him riding a mechanical bull, swinging around a club and blowing on a harmonica does not fit my preconceived notion of him. Ah!!! But things do change and things are not always as they appear, as the infamous saying goes.
John Adams enjoyed a daily swim in the District of Columbia’s Potomac River. Okay- not too unusual, I know, but he liked to do it nude! He also got caught swimming one day by reporter Anne Royall and was forced to give her an interview before she would leave so he could get out of the river. If that didn’t shatter yet another image of a President, picture him playing billiards. Yes, he played pool and even bought a pool table for the White House with his own money.
Warren Harding's favorite hobby was poker! He had nightly games in the White House and served alcohol….this was during prohibition! Harry Truman also enjoyed poker playing and Dwight Eisenhower enjoyed bridge.
Herbert Hoover exercised with a medicine ball! His cabinet and staff would join him regularly in the morning and soon became known as the “medicine ball cabinet.”
Richard Nixon enjoyed bowling at the White House Bowling Alley which was inaugurated by President Truman on April 25, 1947. President Johnson and Lady Bird Johnson also enjoyed the sport of bowling.
George H. W. Bush enjoyed playing horseshoes so much he had a horseshoe court installed on the White House lawn. He also went skydiving!
Presidents Day is Monday February 15th and I thought it would be fun to take a look at what some of the Presidents did as hobbies. Why HOBBIES, you may ask? Well, I think looking at the hobbies of the Presidents allows us to see a side of a President’s personality that we may have never known.
Take, for example, Calvin Coolidge. He liked to play the harmonica, ride a mechanical bull, and used “Indian Clubs” for exercise. First of all, what is an Indian Club? And, second, Calvin Coolidge looks so refined and proper that the image of him riding a mechanical bull, swinging around a club and blowing on a harmonica does not fit my preconceived notion of him. Ah!!! But things do change and things are not always as they appear, as the infamous saying goes.
John Adams enjoyed a daily swim in the District of Columbia’s Potomac River. Okay- not too unusual, I know, but he liked to do it nude! He also got caught swimming one day by reporter Anne Royall and was forced to give her an interview before she would leave so he could get out of the river. If that didn’t shatter yet another image of a President, picture him playing billiards. Yes, he played pool and even bought a pool table for the White House with his own money.
Warren Harding's favorite hobby was poker! He had nightly games in the White House and served alcohol….this was during prohibition! Harry Truman also enjoyed poker playing and Dwight Eisenhower enjoyed bridge.
Herbert Hoover exercised with a medicine ball! His cabinet and staff would join him regularly in the morning and soon became known as the “medicine ball cabinet.”
Richard Nixon enjoyed bowling at the White House Bowling Alley which was inaugurated by President Truman on April 25, 1947. President Johnson and Lady Bird Johnson also enjoyed the sport of bowling.
George H. W. Bush enjoyed playing horseshoes so much he had a horseshoe court installed on the White House lawn. He also went skydiving!
Our current President Barack Obama enjoys basketball.
Click here for a here a quick quiz!
Happy Puzzling!
I have read that Calvin Coolidge played harmonica but doubt it; in a conversation with his late son, John Coolidge, -- John said he never heard his father play. The Indian Clubs, were a result of a photo-op when CC was vice-president, never a part of a daily routine. Walking was his favorite exercise; he liked to fish, too. The Coolidge were fond of jig-saw puzzles. There was always a puzzle on a card table at the White House. On the day he died, in Northampton, Massachusetts, there was a half-completed puzzle of George Washington in his home.
ReplyDeleteIt was John Adams son -- John Quincy Adams who used to swim in the Potomac -- he continued to do this well into his 70s. Oh, yes: It was a mechanical horse Cal rode -- not a bull.
@Jim; Thanks for the clarification. I knew there had to be a puzzle in all those Presidents!
ReplyDeleteI did mean puzzler in all those presidents :)
ReplyDelete