President William H. Taft used an emerging modern approach to treating obesity in an effort to lose weight. That was the conclusion reached by Deborah Levine, an assistant professor of health policy and management at Providence College, who studied letters between Taft and his doctor, Nathaniel E. Yorke-Davies.

A news release from the American College of Physicians notes that Taft’s letters to Yorke-Davies indicate that the president thought weight loss would make him a better civil servant and that it would help him deal with uncomfortable health conditions, like heartburn, indigestion, fatigue and restless sleep.

At 314 pounds, Taft wrote to Yorke-Davies and asked for help. The English diet expert’s reply to the president outlined foods that Taft could eat and those that he should avoid. The letter also detailed when the president should consume the foods and how to keep track of when and what he ate.

According to USA Today, the list included lean meat, fish and vegetables without butter and gluten biscuits. Following Yorke-Davies’ advice, Taft lost 60 pounds.

“This correspondence is one of the few archival collections documenting physician and patient perspectives on the treatment of obesity, and it took place at the precise moment when obesity began to be framed as both a serious and medically manageable condition,” Levine wrote in the study’s abstract.

Taft wrote to his physician for ten years.

“This intimate clinical history of the 27th president and 10th chief justice of the Supreme Court offers a unique opportunity to examine in detail the history of the obesity experience in the United States, and it sheds light on the almost-timeless challenges of creating and maintaining long-term treatment courses for conditions like obesity,” Levine added.

According to CNN, the story that Taft got himself stuck in the White House bathtub comes from Ike Hoover. Hoover, the White House usher during the portly president’s time in office, wrote about the incident in his book, titled “42 years in the White House.”

Does weight influence a candidate’s political success? Will Chris Christie’s weight impact his success as a presidential candidate should he decide to run? Sound off in the comments section.