Sleep Like a President

The POTUS has a lot of weight on their shoulders, so it would make sense for them to have healthy sleep habits. Throughout history, though, that has not always been the case. Check out some of these, um, interesting sleep habits of our presidents.

Running on empty

Abraham Lincoln was a chronic insomniac, which may come as no surprise. The stress of leading the country during the Civil War took its toll. He also never slept in the Lincoln bed. First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln bought the bed and slept in it by herself.

Barrack Obama was notorious for staying up late. His staff became accustom to late-night emails and conference calls. Regardless of the time he fell asleep, he was up at 7 am. He was also reported to be a snorer.

Donald Trump also prefers to ignore the recommended 7-9 hours of sleep a night and opts for 4-5. He usually starts his day catching up on the news and tweeting, but skips breakfast. Surprisingly, he does not drink coffee or tea.

Napper-in-Chief

Ronald Reagan napped at the same time every day, late in the afternoon. He was known to joke about napping during cabinet meetings. He also enjoyed turkey hunts since they provided the opportunity to nap.

John F. Kennedy was known to nap right after lunch. He would pair this mid-day snooze with a bath. He also would take two barbiturates to help him sleep, probably due to his back pain. He preferred a firm mattress while Jackie Kennedy preferred a softer mattress. Due to this, they slept on twin beds.

George W. Bush also valued a midday nap. He was also known to be in the early-to-bed camp. However, he caught some flak from the public for those choices. They were not convinced that was how a president should be spending their time.

Presidential treatment

Theodore Roosevelt was known to be a snorer, but his snoring was also very loud. It was rumored he was given a floor in a Washington hospital all to himself, so he wouldn’t disturb other patients. Poor First Lady Edith Roosevelt for dealing with that every night!

Sources:

https://restonic.com/blog/president-sleeping-habits-97410

https://sleepbetter.org/bizarre-sleep-habits-of-u-s-presidents/

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/sleep-habits-presidents_n_2083215