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Lifestyle

The 8 Weirdest Foods Ever Requested by US Presidents

This article is written by a student writer from the Spoon University at Georgetown chapter.

We are three weeks into the Trump Administration, and I’ve seen just a few memes of people wistful of some of our previous presidents. Those individuals are nostalgic for the days when there were food options other than Trump Steaks. I understand the sentiment completely, and I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but some of our past presidents had some seriously weird food preferences. Here are eight presidents’ favorite foods. 

Ronald Reagan: Jelly Beans

Best Snacks to Travel With candy cereal
Katherine Reed

The Teflon President is almost as famous for loving jelly beans as he is for ending the Cold War. He was known to eat up to 24 pounds of jelly beans a month while governor of California. 

Richard Nixon: Cottage Cheese with Ketchup

You read that right. I honestly think that seasoning cottage cheese with ketchup is a greater crime than Watergate. Really, Nixon?

Franklin D. Roosevelt: Hot Dogs

Next time my mom judges me for cooking hot dogs, I will remind her that FDR served them at an official White House dinner for England’s royal family. Now that’s what I call true American values.

William Henry Harrison: Squirrel Stew

high protein vegetarian dinners black beans soup
Keah Hansen

There is truly no justification for this – a stew made of little, acorn-eating squirrels? I am a meat lover, but you will not see me eating squirrel. Ever. 

Theodore Roosevelt: Eggs

presidents' favorite foods egg yolk egg
Parisa Soraya

At first glance, eggs seem like a fairly normal request. However, the Rough Rider took this obsession a bit far, and he ate up to a dozen eggs for breakfast every morning. That’s what I like to call getting in your protein.

Gerald Ford: The Deluxe Lunch

Gerald Ford had a weird lunch tradition: every day he ate “a ball of cottage cheese, over which he pours a small pitcherful of A-1 Sauce, a sliced onion or a quartered tomato, and a small helping of butter-pecan ice cream.” I do not understand how he crafted such a specific lunch order.

George H.W. Bush: Pork Rinds with Tabasco

The first Bush brought his Texas roots to the White House with some traditional pork rinds. Pork rind (for those who aren’t from Texas) is pork skin that has been roasted or fried. The Tabasco Sauce adds an extra kick to this snack.

Barack Obama: Broccoli 

Little Green Trees broccoli kale
Emily Hu

Something tells me that Barack has been listening to Michelle and is on a health kick. Or he like Big Baby D.R.A.M.. Either way, this one seems totally normal, and extremely healthy.

These presidents have some weird tastes, but I get it. I honestly might need some cottage cheese and ketchup to get through the next four years with our current President anyways.