The Obama family having a picnic on the White House lawn.Posted: On the cover of Potus Beat magazine
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- President Obama set off a firestorm of tabloid coverage over the weekend as he exited a gym after a long workout looking thinner than ever. Experts have begun to attribute the president's emaciated figure to the constant unattainable, unrealistic and idealized images of the presidential body portrayed in weekly newsmagazines and history books.
Obama's portly Press Secretary Robert Gibbs blamed the president's excessive weight loss on a rigorous schedule. Others have blamed Obama's futile quest to be compared favorably to the svelte 16th president, Abraham Lincoln.
"Look, I love Lincoln; he's my idol, but the pressure to be awesome can weigh you down -- literally," Obama said. "When you look in the mirror and realize that you will never look anything like the man who ended slavery, it's easy to get caught up in the model's diet of cigarettes and Diet Coke."
Although Lincoln never smoked, he did write the Emancipation Proclamation over an RC-100. According to presidential historian Michael Beschloss, the ratio of thin presidents to fat ones is 1:11.
"For every William Howard Taft, there are a bunch of skinny wusses like Woodrow Wilson," he said.
However, Obama is not giving up hope. He recently signed a modeling contract with Dove soap that will feature fat, old presidents and call them beautiful and natural.
