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Monday, May 24, 2004President Bush suffered cuts and bruises early Saturday afternoon when he fell while mountain biking on his ranch, White House spokesman Trent Duffy said. Bush was on the 16th mile of a 17-mile ride when he fell, Duffy said. He wasn't just tooling around, but mountain biking, as if he's twenty-something instead of fifty-something. Sixty-year-old Senator John Kerry suffers from the same urge to prove himself, which has resulted in falls while snowboarding and bicycling. There's a long history of leaders anxious to prove their physical strength, from Henry VIII challenging the King of France to a wrestling match to Franklin Roosevelt standing for hours on train platforms despite his polio-weakened legs. But things are getting out of hand. Just about every president for the past thirty years has gone out of his way to prove his vim and vigor, as if the office required a strong body rather than a strong heart and mind. Reagan chopped wood, George H.W. Bush, though more partial to power-boating and golf, sometimes tossed baseballs, and many others have made jogging a required ritual for office. It's enough to make you long for the days of President Taft, whose only exercise consisted of looking for the next snack. posted by Sydney on 5/24/2004 07:22:00 AM 0 comments 0 Comments: |
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