1. William Howard Taft (1909-1913): He became stuck in the White House bathtub several times. By some accounts, he weighed 370 pounds. He did exercise occasionally — horseback riding. Poor horse.
2. Grover Cleveland (1885-1889 and 1893-1897): A 260-pound smoker, he refused to walk or do any exercise because it increased his appetite. He underwent two operations for cancer of the jaw.
3. Ulysses S. Grant (1869-1877): He smoked and chewed tobacco, and died of tongue cancer at age 63. He drank heavily too.
4. Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933-1945): He used a wheelchair because of polio. He also suffered from congestive heart failure and hypertension — not that the American people knew anything about it.
5. Franklin Pierce (1853-1857): Years of heavy drinking resulted in his death from cirrhosis of the liver at age 64.
6. Woodrow Wilson (1913-1921): A major stroke in 1919 left him virtually incapacitated for 17 months. He suffered from hypertension and was reported to have had his first stroke at 39.
7. Calvin Coolidge (1923-1929): He suffered from clinical depression after his son’s death in 1924. He slept 14 to 16 hours a day, worked four.
8. Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953-1961): He had a series of heart attacks, tuberculosis, Crohn’s disease and malaria. It didn’t keep him off the golf course though.
9. Chester Arthur (1881-1885): A heavy smoker and drinker, he suffered in office from Bright’s disease, a fatal kidney ailment. He died a year after leaving office.
10. John F. Kennedy (1961-1963): He suffered from Addison’s disease (decreased production of adrenal hormones) and back pain, and took many prescription drugs. Media reports, though, show him sailing and playing touch football.
