Which President Got Stuck in a Bathtub? 

When the story of President William Howard Taft getting stuck in a bathtub first appeared in the media twenty years after the presidential election in 1912, there was some controversy. While there is some truth to the story, there is a lot of misinformation associated with it. For example, there is no evidence that the tub was actually a seven-foot-long, extra-wide, solid porcelain tub. There is also no evidence that six men helped him out of the tub. 

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One version of the incident says that a White House maid accidentally spilled the water from a bathtub, and Taft stepped into the tub, unaware of the consequences. Another version of the incident claims that multiple men helped Taft out of the tub. However, there is no real proof of either version. 

A historian, Alexis Coe, has traced the origins of the bathtub fiasco to Taft’s butler, Irwin Hoover. Hoover wrote a memoir in 1934 about his experiences working for the president. He didn’t mention who provided assistance to Taft, but he did say that Taft ordered a large bathtub before his stay in the White House. 

The bathtub was built in Manhattan and weighed a ton. It was seven feet long and 41 inches wide. According to Coe, the bathtub was custom made for Taft and was designed to fit his large frame. 

In 1915, Taft stayed at a hotel in Cape May, NJ. When he was in the room, Taft was naked and had a large roll of flesh protruding from his body. Some say that a few men used butter to help him get out of the tub. 

When the National Archives opened its exhibit on Taft in 2009, it displayed a replica of the original bathtub. At the time, it was the largest solid porcelain tub in the world, and measured over seven feet in length. As a result, it cracked a famous photograph. 

Despite the fact that the Tub Trust controlled the porcelain market, there is no evidence that Taft was involved with the price-fixing cartel, and no evidence of any bathtub being stuck on its own. That’s why there is no evidence that the story is true. 

If you are a fan of historical fiction, you may already know that the Bathtub Trust was a porcelain price-fixing ring. This cartel colluded to drive up prices on bathtubs and toilets. But Taft broke up this monopoly when he became president. 

As a result of this event, the White House got a smaller tub, and there was no large bathtub for Taft while he was in office. But there was a large, extra-wide bathtub on several ships that Taft used. 

Taft was a huge, portly man who loved his bathtubs. He even had a bathtub on a ship that was docked at the Panama Canal. On that trip, the captain of the ship requested the largest, solid porcelain tub available. 

The bathtub incident is a bit of a blur. There is no hard evidence, but some historians believe it did happen.