Why President Teddy Roosevelt Drank A Gallon Of Coffee Per Day

Teddy Roosevelt was as great a folk hero as he was a president — and he's commonly considered one of the greatest presidents in American history. He overcame severe childhood asthma and devastating personal tragedies to become a war hero, a conservationist, and a progressive reformer. He got shot in the chest while giving a speech, then finished the speech before getting his wound checked out. The teddy bear is named after him, and his face is carved into Mount Rushmore. So it's hardly surprising that Roosevelt drank a gallon of coffee every day; frankly, we would have been more surprised if he didn't. What may surprise you is that it began as treatment for his asthma — and that he started the habit when he was five years old.

Roosevelt was a sickly child, with asthma as his main ailment. His father would take him on horseback rides through the countryside in an attempt to get him fresh air, but it became clear that he needed something a little stronger. At that time, the main treatments for childhood asthma were — and we swear we're not making this up to make fun of old-timey medicine — black coffee, puffs of cigars, and sips of whiskey. Although Roosevelt didn't pick up a cigar habit from these dubious treatments, he did have a lifelong taste for whiskey — and, of course, coffee.

We're honestly surprised that Teddy Roosevelt didn't take his coffee black. This was the guy who died in his sleep because, as one friend put it, "if he had been awake there would have been a fight." But nope, Roosevelt took his coffee with a surprising amount of milk and sugar. At breakfast, he would take his coffee with half milk and half sugar, and over the course of the rest of the day he would knock back cup after cup, sweetened with several tablespoons' worth of sugar. (Does that mean he would have liked Starbucks' Oatmilk Honey Latte? It's a possibility we can't rule out.)

Coffee wasn't the only foodstuff Roosevelt liked. A light eater, he preferred exceptionally simple fare for breakfast, like hard-boiled eggs, and he frequented the New York City steakhouse Keens often enough that they had a clay pipe stored there in his honor, and which remains among the thousands of pipes they have on display. And for the good of the whole country, he helped establish the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), making the once-disgusting slaughterhouses of America more acceptable.