How Taft Got Stuck in the Bathtub

How Taft Got Stuck in the Bathtub

From Plodding Through The Presidents by Howard & Jessica Dorre

April 9, 2026 · 30 min · Season 7 · Episode 2

About this episode

The episode explores the origins of the story that William Howard Taft got stuck in a White House bathtub.

We go behind the story that Howard just published in Smithsonian Magazine, digging into the forgotten origins of the story that William Howard Taft got stuck in a White House bathtub. Check out the article: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/popular-lore-claims-that-william-howard-taft-got-stuck-in-a-bathtub-new-research-sheds-light-on-the-legends-forgotten-origins-180988386/ You can also hear Howard on these recent podcasts: The Big Fib: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/will-we-impeach-wisdom-when-telling-fibs-about-us-presidents/id1348469682?i=1000748336772 Talk That Pod: https://talkthatpod.net/episode-002-howard-dorre/ Find out more at plodpod.com. Join our Patreon community at https://www.patreon.com/ploddingthroughthepresidents Check out our merch shop at https://www.teepublic.com/stores/plodding-through-the-presidents?ref_id=24294 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

People in this episode

Host: Howard

Topics covered

  • William Howard Taft
  • White House
  • bathtub
  • history
  • lore

Keywords

  • Smithsonian Magazine
  • forgotten origins
  • popular lore

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: The Big Fib

More episodes of Plodding Through The Presidents

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Plodding Through The Presidents podcast page.