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William Howard Taft: Food Poisoning in Minneapolis

   
 
food poisoning #2 Taft was Secretary of War in June 1907. During a cross-country speaking and inspection tour that month, he ate some bad fish at the Minneapolis Club in Minnesota. He had diarrhea and "violent" vomiting at 4 am and 7 am the next morning. Nevertheless, Taft continued with activities the next day. He almost collapsed doing so, and was given whiskey as stimulant, which prompted only "a renewal of my troubles" [25c] The episode was sufficiently alarming that it elicited letters of concern from President Theodore Roosevelt and Roosevelt's White House physician [17a].

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 Taft faithfully wrote letters to his wife when he was separated, and described the episode in detail to her the next day [25c]. He wrote her from the home of a childhood friend, John C. Hill, in St. Paul:
They gave us a dinner at the Minneapolis Club, but the Club was so small that the dinner was by no means as handsome a one as the expense of it would have justified its being. I ate something at the dinner -- probably the fish -- which gave me a little ptomaine poisoning. I do not know that I should have suffered from it, had it not been that I was utterly exhausted by the previous efforts of the week.

At 4 o'clock in the morning I was awakened, and got up and had a violent vomit and retching, together with diarrhoea, and that was repeated at 7 o'clock. Then I went to St. Paul, and went to the Commercial Club, where I met a lot of people, and then we went out to Fort Snelling, where I had a review, and mounted a horse. I felt so badly ... when I got up that I took only tea and toast, and after I got through the reviewing, I got into an automobile and went around inspecting the post, and when I reached the commanding officer's quarters, I felt so faint that I had to take some whisky [sic], and then I had a renewal of my trouble, and really was so near a state of collapse that they all insisted on my coming back to St. Paul, which I did. ...

After coming back here I tumbled into bed, and I think I slept three or four hours without interruption. The doctors came in and said I must not eat anything, and so I didn't. They were all anxious, however, that I should go to the banquet, which was to be held. ... I was very much afraid that I could not go, for after the sleep I sat up and I felt dizzy and weak, but by sitting up a little and lying down and sitting up again, I finally managed to get my equilibrium, and so I went down and made a short speech of about 15 minutes, and then went back to Mr. Hill's again. ... The effort, while it weakened me, did not do me any harm. I had a very good night and to-day have been in bed, and am going tonight to Sioux Falls, which I shall reach in the morning.

This morning I was permitted to take something for the first time since yesterday morning, in the form of some oatmeal and toast. At noon they let me have some steak and rice, so that I am getting into good condition again, and really what I have needed has been this long rest which I have taken. I am afraid the telegrams that went out were rather startling, and I hope you have already heard ... so as to know there is nothing serious the matter. ... Don't worry.

(Paragraphing has been added to make the text more readable.)
     Resources[Top]
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  1. Abbott, Lawrence F. (ed.). The Letters of Archie Butt: Personal Aide to President Roosevelt. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, Page & Company, 1924.   [a] p. 165

  2. Anderson, Judith Icke. William Howard Taft: An Intimate History. New York: W. W. Norton, 1981. ISBN 0-393-01462-2 @ Amazon   [a] p. ??? [b] p. 28 [c] p. 68

  3. Arnebeck, Bob. White House Workout: William Howard Taft's good fight against the 54-inch waistline. Washington Post Magazine. September 15, 1985: 17, 19.

  4. Barker, Charles E. With President Taft in the White House. Chicago: A. Kroch and Son, 1947.   [a] pp. 50-51

  5. Boller, Paul F. Jr. Presidential Anecdotes. New York: Oxford University Press, 1981. ISBN 0-19-502915-1 @ Amazon

  6. Bromley, Michael L. William Howard Taft and the First Motoring Presidency. Jefferson, NC: MacFarland, 2003. ISBN 0-7864-1475-8 @ Amazon   [a] p. 76

  7. Bromley, Michael. Personal communication. Email to Dr. Zebra Sept. 15, 2005.
        Bromley wrote: "Taft never drove. He always had a driver. His driver in Washington in the Twenties was named Tom Ford." It is not clear, however, when Ford was hired or if he was behind the wheel when this incident occurred.

  8. Bumgarner, John R. The Health of the Presidents: The 41 United States Presidents Through 1993 from a Physician's Point of View. Jefferson, NC: MacFarland & Company, 1994. ISBN 0-89950-956-8 @ Amazon   [a] p. 172 [b] p. 167 [c] p. 168
        Devotes one chapter to each President, through Clinton. Written for the layperson, well-referenced, with areas of speculation clearly identified, Dr. Zebra depends heavily on this book. Dr. Bumgarner survived the Bataan Death March and has written an unforgettable book casting a physician's eye on that experience.

  9. Butt, Archibald W. Taft and Roosevelt: The Intimate Letters of Archie Butt, Military Aide. Garden City, NY: Doubleday (1930). Volume 1: pages 1-432. Volume 2: pages 433-862.   [a] p. 326 [b] p. 760 [c] p. 172
        Butt, an Army officer, was military aide first to President Theodore Roosevelt and then to President William Taft. On April 14, 1912, Butt was at sea aboard the Titanic returning from a European vacation that Taft had insisted he take. President Taft later said: "When I heard that part of the ship's company had gone down, I gave up hope for the rescue of Major Butt, unless by accident. I knew that he would certainly remain on the ship's deck until every duty had been performed and every sacrifice made that properly fell on one charged, as he would feel himself charged, with responsibility for the rescue of others." Taft was correct. Butt did not survive the sinking.

  10. Coletta, Paolo E. The Presidency of William Howard Taft. Lawrence, KS: The University Press of Kansas, 1973. ISBN 7006-0096-5 @ Amazon   [a] p. 9

  11. Dole, RJ. Great Presidential Wit. NY: Scribner, 2001. ISBN 0-7432-0392-5 @ Amazon   [a] p. 134

  12. Hicks, F. C. William Howard Taft, Yale Professor of Law & New Haven Citizen. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1945.   [a] pp. 111-112 [b] pp. 113-114

  13. Manners, William. TR and Will: A Friendship that Split the Republican Party. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, Inc., 1969.

  14. Marx, Rudolph. The Health of the Presidents. New York: GP Putnam's Sons, 1960.   [a] p. 301

  15. Montgomery-Massingberd, Hugh (ed). Burke's Presidential Families of the United States of American. 2nd ed. London: Burke's Peerage Limited, 1981. ISBN 0-85011-033-5 @ Amazon
        Enumerates the ancestors and descendants of American presidents up through Ronald Reagan.

  16. Pringle, Henry F. The Life and Times of William Howard Taft: A Biography. New York: Farrar & Rinehart, Inc., 1939.   [a] p. 24 [b] p. 3 [c] p. 1072 [d] p. 21 [e] p. 35 [f] p. 287 [g] p. 334 [h] p. 39 [i] p. 375 [j] pp. 208-209 [k] p. 214 [l] p. 215 [m] p. 219 [n] p. 226 [o] p. 235 [p] p. 253

  17. Braisted, William C.; Bell, William Hemphill; Rixey, Presley Marion. The Life Story of Presley Marion Rixey: Surgeon General, U. S. Navy 1902-1910: Biography and Autobiography. Strasburg, VA: Shenandoah Publishing House, Inc., 1930.   [a] p. 265
        Rixey was the White House physician for both William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt.

  18. Ross, Ishbel. An American Family: The Tafts - 1678 to 1964. Cleveland, OH: World Publishing Co., 1964.   [a] p. 143

  19. Sargent, Shirley. Yosemite's Famous Guests. Yosemite, CA: Flying Spur Press, 1970.

  20. Smith, Ira R. T.; Morris, Joe Alex. "Dear Mr. President:" The Story of Fifty Years in the White House Mail Room. New York: Julian Messner, 1949.   [a] pp. 66-69
        Ira Smith was a peppery fellow who ran the White House mail room from 1897 to 1948. He started working during the administration of William McKinley and was the only mail room staffer until the volume of mail made it necessary to hire help during the administration of Franklin Roosevelt.

  21. Sotos, JG. Taft and Pickwick: sleep apnea in the White House. Chest. 2003;124:1133-1142.

  22. Sullivan, Mark. Our Times: 1900-1925 (Six volumes). New York: Charles Scribners' Sons, 1926-1940.   [a] p. III-14 [b] p. III-14 quoting Arthur Brisbane [c] pp. III-15-16 quoting Frederick Palmer [d] pp. III-14-15 [e] p. III-15 [f] p. IV-408

  23. Taft, Horace Dutton. Memories and Opinions. New York: Macmillan, 1947.   [a] p. 7

  24. Taft, Mrs. William Howard (Helen Herron Taft). Recollections of Full Years. New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1914.   [a] p. 57 [b] pp. 57-58

  25. Taft, William Howard. Papers of William Howard Taft. On file in the Library of Congress and selected other research libraries.   [a] WHT to Charles P. Taft, August 31, 1908 [b] WHT to Helen Herron Taft, September 24, 1905 [c] WHT to Helen Herron Taft, June 15, 1907

  26. Watson, James. As I Knew Them: Memoirs of James E. Watson. Indianapolis, IN: Bobbs-Merrill, 1936.   [a] p. 133

  27. The William Taft web page at the White House.

  28.  (1 match when checked in November 2003)
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