At a staggering 340 pounds and a Body Mass Index of 42.3, William Howard Taft wasn't just the heaviest president in U.S. history. He was also the "first celebrity weight-loss patient," according to Deborah Levine, a professor of health policy and management at Rhode Island's Providence College.
For a new report in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine, Levine studied the letters exchanged between Taft and English physician Nathaniel E. Yorke-Davies. Taft, who according to legend once got stuck in the presidential bathtub because of his girth, requested a personalized weight-loss plan, writing that "no real gentleman weighs more than 300 pounds." Yorke-Davies provided him with a program heavy on vegetables, fruits, and grilled lean proteins, and low on carbs and sugar. (In other words, what most modern doctors agree is a healthy way to eat.) The diet worked wonders for the 27th President, who lost 60 pounds.
But Taft wasn't the only U.S. president with some extra baggage around the middle. Here are five more of the fattest commanders-in-chief, and how they tried—and sometimes failed—to shed the extra weight.
