| Thomas Jefferson once called being president “a splendid misery,” a description even more applicable today. The office brings perks, power, and prestige, but also delivers a 24/7 workload, crushing responsibilities, and relentless criticism from the press and others. Many commentators have called the presidency the toughest job in the country, if not the world.
Given all the talk about stress in today’s culture, we may look at how those who have held the highest office in the land sought relief from the anxieties and headaches of the Oval Office.
A surprising number of presidents were athletes in their younger days. Abraham Lincoln, for instance, made a name for himself wrestling, albeit those informal matches were conducted frontier style with few rules.
Theodore Roosevelt was a boxer as a teenager and at Harvard, John Kennedy swam on a team at the same school, a skill that served him well during World War II when he rescued crew members from drowning after the Japanese sank his PT boat. Dwight Eisenhower, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, and Ronald Reagan played varsity football in college.
Once in the White House, these presidents and others often coped with the burdens of office through physical activities and table games. Though not an especially skillful player, Lincoln “was a self-proclaimed ‘billiards addict,’” which he described as a “health inspiring, scientific game.” He even had a billiards table installed in the presidential home.
Richard and Pat Nixon were both avid bowlers, and three admirers built a single-lane bowling alley in the White House, which the Nixons frequently enjoyed. Of the many presidents who enjoyed poker and found diversion in a deck of cards, Harry Truman and Warren G. Harding hold first place as the most ardent in their love of the game.
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