On his way out the White House door, the grizzled old populist Andrew Jackson wanted to give the American people a parting gift. What party favor did Jackson disperse 1,400 pounds of in order to ingratiate himself with 10,000 of his fellow Washingtonians?

Let it never be said that portly president William Howard Taft lacked athletic acumen. In 1910, Taft threw out the first pitch at the Washington Senators’ Opening Day game. In the years since then, every president save two have followed Taft’s example. Which two presidents passed pitch-less administrations?

In 1945, the normally pro-union mayor Fiorello LaGuardia was eager to blunt the power of a newspaper deliverers’ strike. In order to keep New Yorkers on his side and limit the fallout from the strike, he took to the airwaves every day to read to his constituents from the papers they weren’t getting. Which popular section did he read?

After appearing pallid and haggard next to the telegenic JFK in 1960, Richard Nixon forswore all future televised debates. However, he did stay alert to opportunities for an over-the-airwaves redemption. In 1968, he pounced. On what chart-topping program did Tricky Dick invite viewers to “sock it to me?” (And after just six seething, defensive takes!)

Historically, Democratic politicians have been eager to dispel the notion that they are “soft on defense.” If elected president, they can do this with cruise missiles, drone strikes and “red lines,” but how do mere candidates, constrained in their death-dealing capabilities, telegraph their toughness? For one Democratic candidate, a heavily-photographed joyride in an M1 Abrams was supposed to do the trick. Unfortunately, this silly spectacle ended up “tanking” his campaign. Who was this poor helmet-rocking would-be hawk?

In October of 2001, in the wake of the 9/11 attacks (and in the run-up to the invasion of Afghanistan), New York Representative Carolyn Maloney took to the House floor in what unexpected outfit?

“My favorite meat is hot dog,” averred Mitt Romney in 2012, “and my second-favorite meat is hamburger.” Clearly, some politicians struggle with their average Joe act. Others, more theatrically inclined, don all sorts of drag. Over the past decade mayors like Ben McAdams and Mike Coffman, governors like Richard Codey, and senatorial also-rans like Neel Kashkari have all drawn mixed reviews for going undercover to experience life as…

In 2018, Beto O’Rourke ran for a Senate seat in Texas. In 2020, he ran for president of the United States. In between, he live streamed a trip to the dentist. What was the ostensible point of this strange act of navel/tonsil-gazing?