William Howard Taft 27th president (jan 19, 1857 – apr 22, 1930)

Description:

Taft is most known for his waist line and supposedly getting stuck in a bathtub (historians say this didn’t really happen), but what people don’t talk about enough is his stuffed animal. Toy manufacturers believed Teddy Bears would fade out and wanted a replacement. They came up with Billy Possum. Unfortunately, the origin tale has nothing to do with Taft sparing a baby possum and everything to do with him scarfing down a huge possum dinner one night. Despite rude anti-Teddy Bear postcards like the one below, Billy Possum did not catch on.