1 rich Libsyn https://www.libsyn.com 90 600 The search for the funniest president continues! Today, most people just know Taft as the heaviest president -- but in his day the big guy was one of the most lovable public figures in America. Our guest is Jon Lurie, a professor emeritus of legal history at Rutgers University who published a Taft biography in 2012. We talk about Taft's famous full-body laugh and his sardonic sense of humor. We review the most famous fat jokes at Taft's expense -- and the ways Taft responded to them. And most important, we try to figure out why a famously fun guy seemed so miserable while serving in the White House. William Howard Taft: Travails of a Progressive Conservative The Dynamic Value of Sunshine The bathtub story MUSIC: Hail Columbia, &quot;Super Chief&quot; by Count Basie and His Orchestra, &quot;My Ohio Home&quot; by Jean Goldkette and His Orchestra The Other Side http://dcimprov.libsyn.com/podcast <iframe title="Libsyn Player" style="border: none" src="//html5-player.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/4318301/height/90/theme/custom/thumbnail/yes/direction/forward/render-playlist/no/custom-color/87A93A/" height="90" width="600" scrolling="no" allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen oallowfullscreen msallowfullscreen></iframe> https://assets.libsyn.com/secure/content/11548349