Don't Mess with Abe Lincoln

Dear Friend,

Welcome to the President's Day Edition of the Iron Hands Journal. You may not realize it but some of our founding fathers were some genuine studs when it came to combat sports.

Take George Washington for example. Whether the story about our first President throwing a coin clear across the Potomac River is true or not, I don't know. At 18 years old though, Washington was well known as a county-wide and possibly colony-wide champion of the 'collar and elbow' style wrestling.

Even at the age of 47, ten years before he became the first President of the United States, the old George still had enough sand in him to defeat seven consecutive challengers from the Massachusetts Volunteers.

Abraham Lincoln, our 16th president was also well known as a great athlete. A young Abraham Lincoln was the wrestling champion of his county in 1830. At 6 feet, 4 inches in height, Lincoln was wiry and muscular; strengthened by years of backbreaking hard work in the fields.

When he was around 21 years of age, Lincoln was keeping the store at New Salem, Illinois, when his boss backed him to out-wrestle Jack Armstrong, the local tough and county wrestling champion.

From the start of the bout, Lincoln thrashed to the local champion. Armstrong, who was frustrated by Lincoln's lanky build and enormous reach, started fouling his opponent. Ol' Abe put up with it for a while, but eventually he lost his temper, picked up his opponent and threw him to the ground, knocking him out.

Lincoln was unquestionably the toughest of the wrestling Presidents. He fought in the 'catch-as-catch-can,' style which was more hand-to-hand combat than sport.

Don't mess with Abe Lincoln.

Other Presidents who were well know wrestlers include Andrew Jackson, Zachary Taylor, Ulysses S. Grant, Chester A. Arthur, Calvin Coolidge and William Howard Taft who was the Intramural heavyweight champion at Yale and a fourth generation wrestler in the Taft family.

No analysis on Presidential athletes would be complete without mentioning Theodore Rosevelt, who had an affinity for most kinds of strong physical exertion. He was perhaps the most enthusiastic of the wrestling Presidents and continued regular wrestling workouts throughout his term as Governor of New York.

And on that note, I'm going to end on a great quote from Franklin Roosevelt, who was Teddy's fifth cousin:

"When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on." -Franklin D. Roosevelt

Hang on indeed...

Train hard,

John Wood signature

John Wood

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