FROM THE FOUNDING TABLE TO YOUR KITCHEN
POTUSPLATETHE PRESIDENTIAL TABLEHISTORY IS SERVED.
Presidents/A bigger American table

PRESIDENT 26 · 1901–1909

At the table with
Theodore Roosevelt.

The twenty-sixth president is closely associated with conservation and an energetic public life.

Choose a dish ↓
Skillet fried chicken — the black-and-white years

THE HISTORICAL TABLE

Fried chicken and a substantial appetite

Family or White House tradition

National Park Service accounts describe Theodore Roosevelt’s enthusiasm for substantial food: bacon, eggs, fried chicken and plenty of coffee. A surviving letter even specifies how he wanted a soft-boiled egg served, in an egg cup. Food details could matter to him as much as quantities.

Fried chicken is the strongest personal connection in this menu. Potato hash and baked beans reconstruct the hearty breakfast and supper accompaniments of his American household setting. They give the chicken company without requiring a formal dinner menu.

Behind this story

National Park Service research on Theodore Roosevelt’s food habits and egg letter.