There’s Only One President in the Wrestling Hall of Fame
And no, it’s not Theodore Roosevelt.
When one thinks of the American presidency and sports, golf normally comes to mind. Many presidents play the relaxing sport like Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and Donald Trump.
No one has ever associated the presidency with wrestling, but they should. After all, there is a president in the Wrestling Hall of Fame. Who could it be?
Abraham Lincoln. No, seriously.
A Rail-splitter and a Grappler
During the seven years he lived in the small town of New Salem, Illinois, where he learned to be a lawyer, Lincoln took part in the local activity of wrestling. All of the men in town participated, so Lincoln felt he should too.
No one thought a six foot four tall man could wrestle well, but he did. In seven years, he won 299 out of 300 recorded fought matches. Not too shabby for a lanky fellow.
He even became a hometown hero after defeating local bully Jack Armstrong. Ironically, Lincoln defended Armstrong in a court case in the next few years.
The Hall of Fame Inductee
In his Pulitzer Prize-winning biography of Lincoln, Carl Sandburg explains Honest Abe once…
