Which Of These Presidential Eating Habits Would You Try?
As the president of the United States, you can eat whatever your heart desires. You have personal chefs and a whole team of cooks at your disposal, and the means to acquire whatever ingredients you want. Despite this, many US presidents have surprisingly wacky or just plain unappealing food preferences. From Donald Trump's Diet Coke addiction to Richard Nixon's strange combinations with a certain low-fat dairy product, here are 20 US presidents with the weirdest eating habits.
1. Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant, the hero of the Civil War, liked his steak well done. We mean really well done to the point of being charred. This is because he grew up working on his father's tannery as a child and hated the sight of raw beef.
Library of Congress on Wikimedia
2. Grover Cleveland
The 22nd president of the US was a huge fan of beer and while there's nothing unusual about that, the weird part comes from the sheer quantity he drank. He reportedly had a pact with a friend to cut their beer intake down to a gallon a day, which begs the question: How much were they drinking before that? He had a huge beer belly, which earned him the nickname Uncle Jumbo.
3. Donald Trump
It's amazing Donald Trump is as lively as he is considering the amount of processed foods in his diet. According to his ex-campaign manager, he often skips breakfast and lunch, opting for salty snacks like Doritos before a filling dinner that usually consists of a couple of McDonald's Big Macs and a chocolate milkshake. He's also famously a fan of diet coke and sips them all day instead of coffee.
Shealeah Craighead on Wikimedia
4. George Washington
George Washington was a huge fan of nuts. Who isn't? What was weird about it was that he would use his infamous dentures as a nutcracker, crushing nut shells in his mouth mid-conversation.
5. Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan famously loved jelly beans, a rare trait for a full-grown man. He kept a jar of them on his desk and even on Air Force One.
6. William Howard Taft
William Howard Taft followed the carnivore diet before it was cool. The man would eat beefsteak for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and was also a fan of venison, lamb chops, possum, and turtle soup. Eventually he had to follow his doctor's orders and reduce his breakfast steak portion from 12 to 6 ounces, a change he described as "a sad state of affairs."
no photographer credit on Wikimedia
7. Richard Nixon
The Senate cafeteria has a dish named after each president. The "Richard Nixon" is an entrée of cottage cheese and ketchup, the president's go-to breakfast. Pineapple with cottage cheese was famously the last dish he requested before resigning.
Louis Fabian Bachrach, Jr. on Wikimedia
8. Barack Obama
Barack Obama's diet can be described as contemporary and healthy, unsurprising given his svelte figure. The oddest thing about his diet is that he would eat precisely seven salted almonds before bedtime.
9. George W. Bush
According to his White House chef, George W. Bush loved homemade cheeseburger pizzas for dinner. It was every ingredient of a cheeseburger plus bacon on top of a margherita pizza, slathered in ketchup.
10. George H.W. Bush
The apple doesn't fall far from the tree. The elder George Bush also had some strange preferences, namely fried pork rinds with Tabasco sauce. When his love of pork rinds went public, sales jumped 11 percent.
11. Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton was known for having rather gluttonous tastes. As governor of Arkansas, he frequented Doe's Eat Place, where he would order a greasy jalapeño cheeseburger, and in the Oval Office, he had McDonald's so often it was spoofed on Saturday Night Live. However, after two heart-related surgeries, he became a full-blown vegan in 2011.
Library of Congress on Wikimedia
12. Lyndon B. Johnson
LBJ was known for his love of heavy, Southern dishes in large portions that he would shovel into his mouth. He also drank a lot of the grapefruit-flavored soda, Fresca, a recommendation from his doctor to help him curb his nicotine habit. As senator, he ate hamburgers for lunch every day, and he was the first president to host a cookout on the White House terrace.
CarlAlbertArchives on Wikimedia
13. Warren G. Harding
The 29th president of the US, Warren G. Harding, reportedly hosted men-only dinners where he would serve sauerkraut and knockwurst, a type of German sausage. This meal doesn't even sound like it was hip for its day.
14. Thomas Jefferson
During his time as minister to France, Thomas Jefferson acquired a taste for French delicacies, bringing fine cheeses, soufflés, and braised meats to the US. Although it's not uncommon today for Americans to love French food, compared to the all-American tastes of most US presidents of the day, Jefferson was an anomaly. He reportedly spent over $10,000 ($250,000 in today's money) on French wine during his presidency.
15. John Adams
Directly after waking up in the morning, the second president had an odd habit of putting back a large stein of alcoholic apple cider. He passionately loved the drink, claiming it was better than wine and healthier than tobacco.
16. Joe Biden
With Special K cereal and Fig Newtons on the menu, Joe Biden's diet is mostly unsurprising for a man of his age. The thing that sticks out is his love of orange Gatorade. He'll drink multiple orange Gatorades a day, even with breakfast.
17. Jimmy Carter
The oddest thing about Jimmy Carter's diet was his love of buttermilk, which he would drink with lunch. He also enjoyed deep-fried peanuts as a snack. He did grow up on a peanut farm, however, so maybe he knows something we don't.
Naval Photographic Center on Wikimedia
18. James A. Garfield
The 20th president of the US had a preference for squirrel soup, which he even developed his own recipe for. However, it would be hard to replicate today, as squirrel hunting is legal only at certain times of the year in certain states, as their meat may carry disease.
Brady-Handy Photograph Collection on Wikimedia
19. Woodrow Wilson
In contrast to other US presidents, Woodrow Wilson saw eating as a chore. On his doctor's orders and in an effort to put on some weight, he took to drinking a glass of juice with raw eggs cracked in it for breakfast. Sounds like the least appealing way to put on weight if you ask us.
Frank Graham Cootes on Wikimedia
20. Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight D. Eisenhower had a love for one of the world's least popular foods: prunes. He especially adored a dessert called prune whip, which consisted of prunes, prune juice, gelatin, egg whites, lemon, sugar, nuts, and whipped cream, capturing a bygone era of gelatin-based desserts.
