Which presidents skinny dipped

Evidently this was no secret to Washington insiders: According to DC lore, Anne Royall, one of the first female journalists, met Adams at the shore during one of his swims, sat on his clothes, and demanded that he answer her questions. The great naturalist liked to disrobe and commune with nature on occasion. When they got to the Potomac, Pinchot and the President took off their clothes and dove in.

At his time, Adams was known to be a powerful swimmer who was at ease in the water. So, allegedly, Anne Royall , one of the first female journalists, wanted to interview the president. In order to do so, she went down to the Potomac while he was swimming and sat on his clothes. She refused to leave until he answered all of her questions. In doing so, Royall became the first woman to interview a president. Teddy Roosevelt and Kennedy were among other skinny dipping presidents.

These two were notable in that they had no qualms about inviting others to join them, including staff and ambassadors. If you remember from your high school U. The future president was always up for a challenge, and he carried that ambition and daringness through his presidency. While serving as president, he formed what was known as his Tennis Cabinet, which initially started off as a tennis club.

Tennis turned out to be a bit too tame for Teddy, so he turned to something else. He and his Tennis Cabinet instead would pick a point on a map to walk to without regard for obstacles—including bodies of water.

These adventures often involved decent amounts of swimming, including swimming across Rock Creek with ice floating on it. The later Roosevelt, FDR, while not as daring and able, held similar events during his presidency. Known as stag parties, the purpose of these events was to win over the good will of Congressional Democrats. These parties would include fishing, clay pigeon shooting, and of course, swimming naked.

Two of the presidents swam competitively during their lifetimes. Sign In Subscribe. The Sea of Galilee emerged unharmed after a U. Congressman swam naked in it. The federal law enforcement agency responsible for stopping domestic terrorism, organized crime and bank robberies spent an unknown number of staff hours investigating skinny-dipping that took place a year ago in a foreign country, and won't explain why they did it.

The account of that Aug. In a Congress that has already sunk to new lows in public-opinion polls, and seen a bipartisan wave of scandals, this latest controversy could only further damage that image.

Since the start of the th Congress, former Rep. Anthony Weiner D-N. Former Rep. Christopher Lee R-N. David Wu D-Ore. Former Sen. John Ensign R-Nev. Anne Royall was a Revolutionary War widow who was left with nothing after her husband died and his family contested his will. At 57, she became a writer and traveled the country chronicling her journeys. Her books included scathing critiques that made her a lot of enemies — especially evangelicals. In Royall wrote:.

I will never have done until I banish priestcraft, religious tyranny, superstition and bigotry from amongst my sex — to be sure it is some thing like overturning a mountain, but this does not deter me, if I cannot turn the mountain over, I will cut through it. The impious frauds of those priests have too long disgraced the fairest part of creation. The year-old Royall responded by yelling obscenities at them as they walked by.

Royall was found guilty, one of the few women convicted of being a common scold since the United States declared independence. Her sentence was ducking. Reserved only for women, ducking involved being tied to a chair, suspended over water, and submerged.

Royall said a ducking chair was built just for her by the Marines, but it was never used. The judge conceded that the punishment was cruel and unusual and instead fined her ten dollars. In a show of solidarity from the press, two newspapermen from a rival newspaper paid the fine for her.

But no version of it appears anywhere in print during the lifetimes of John Quincy Adams or Anne Royall. Finding the original source of the rumor might be impossible. We may never know the true origin of this fable, but there are some kernels of truth that may have been poorly popped.