The world watches the President of the United States, often the most powerful role on earth and among the most demanding. A carving on a White House mantel reads: “May none but honest and wise men rule under this roof.”

“Being President is like being a jackass in a hailstorm,” quipped 36th President Lyndon Johnson. “You just have to stand there and take it.” The office is a test of strength, skill, and courage, or, as humorist Will Rogers joked, “We shouldn’t elect a President; we should elect a magician.”

Presidents have come in many forms: Abraham Lincoln was our tallest at 6'4"; James Madison the smallest at 5'4"; and William Howard Taft the heaviest, well over 300 pounds during his term. Joe Biden was the oldest at inauguration, seventy-eight; Theodore Roosevelt the youngest at forty-two.

Andrew Johnson was illiterate at eighteen until his bride taught him to read and write. John F. Kennedy reportedly read two thousand words a minute. Richard Nixon played piano; Herbert Hoover loved to fly-fish.

What a President does matters. Theodore Roosevelt, an avid hunter, once refused to shoot a bear cub. The story inspired a cartoon, which inspired a toy — the teddy bear. Years later, after living with all the world watching, Dwight D. Eisenhower sighed with relief: “Oh, that lovely title, ex-president.”