John Quincy Adams, the Skinny Dipper
There’s altogether nothing like a bracing morning swim in the altogether!
John Quincy Adams was the sixth President of the United States and the son of the second, John Adams (the name Quincy was thanks to his mother Abigail, who had connections with a prominent Massachusetts family of that name).
John Quincy became President in 1825, and was determined not to let his rise to the top affect his regular morning routine, which included rising early and taking a dip in the Potomac River.
The dip in question was always a “skinny dip” — a total strip so that John Quincy could enter the water just as Nature intended. Being very early in the morning, when there was hardly anyone else around, there was little reason for the President’s naked swims to cause embarrassment to anyone.
However, there were occasions when his habit did cause a problem or two.
There was, for example, the time when he thought he might swim the entire width of the Potomac, so he got a servant to row him across the river so that he could swim back. This plan might have worked out fine, had the boat not capsized halfway over.
Adams, who was already stripped off, had no problem swimming back to shore, but not so the servant, who was wearing a…
