Jocks in Chief by Jon Finkel

A strictly for fun read that ranks the 44 men who have served as US President in order of physical fitness. The books was written during Trump’s Presidency so Biden is not included. The book is well-researched and Finked is a fun writer who takes his subject with the exactly correct degree of un-seriousness. Each President is given a brief essay so there’s a fairly good history lesson to be had in reading through them all.

Of course you’ll want to know the least fit, that would be James K. Polk. Trump ends up in the middle of the pack (#24). Apparently he was a pretty good college baseball and football athlete, though no one would call him an athlete in later life.

Obama comes in at #10 The top 5 are: Lincoln (wrestling); H. W. Bush (baseball); Washington (horse riding and a powerful arm); T Roosevelt (Boxing and just about anything manly); and then at number one: Gerald Ford. Gerald Ford led his University of Michigan Wolverines football team to back to back national championships, made the collegiate all-star team, and after college was offered contracts from the Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers. At Yale Law he coached boxing and varsity football. He taught physical fitness in the Navy, then took up tennis, golf and skiing. At the White House he put in an outdoor pool and swam nearly every day.

Here’s a few pictures of Ford swimming. Looks pretty fit to me.