Several former U.S. Presidents were enthusiastic wrestlers. Four of them have been inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame (NWHF) as “Outstanding Americans”. Abraham Lincoln and George Washington were inducted in 1992. Theodore Roosevelt in 1993 and William Howard Taft was the last President to be inducted in 1997.

Donald J. Trump had no experience in wrestling, apart from hosting World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. (WWE) ‘Wrestlemania’ events. In recognition of this Trump was inducted into the celebrity wing of the WWE Hall of Fame in 2013. The NWHF and the WWE Wrestling Hall of Fame are two distinct organisations.

William Taft was the 27th president of the U.S. (1909–1913). He was the heaviest wrestling president at his ”best weight” of 225 lbs (102 kg) and was intramural heavyweight champion at Yale. Taft’s predecessor as president, Theodore Roosevelt, both as Governor of New York and eventually as president, took time to wrestle, to learn jiu-jitsu, to box or participate in any form of 'mixing it up' with a worthy adversary.

George Washington was an accomplished grappler and master of the British style known as ‘collar and elbow’. Perhaps the most accomplished of all the presidential wrestlers was seen in the 6-foot 4-inch frame of Abraham Lincoln who (reputedly) lost only once in around 300 wrestling matches.

'White House grapplers' include Andrew Jackson, Zachary Taylor, James Garfield, Ulysses S. Grant, Chester A. Arthur and Dwight Eisenhower.

More Info: nwhof.org