Brawling at the White House
One more series of thoughts, if I may, on last Sunday’s UFC fight on the lawn of the White House.
The folks at UFC, which stands for Ultimate Fighting Championship, prepared a short AI-generated video that was posted on social media over the weekend, in advance of last Sunday’s event and in response to the criticism leveled at the Administration and UFC for even holding the event.
It showed President Theodore Roosevelt, and noted that TR frequently invited sportsman of all types to the White House; not for conversation, but so he could train with them and learn their sport. The video shows TR boxing one of the greats of the time, and engaging in wrestling. A figure in a white judo outfit is there, as well. The tag of the spot suggests that in order to be a strong leader, you have to train and be physically and mentally strong.
After I saw that video, which was pretty well done, I got an unrelated email from our friend, Waterloo native and historian Mike Chapman. He independently reminded me of the same thing—that TR used to have athletes in for spirited competition, in which he participated. He noted that while many folks did mention the boxing matches, they failed to mention a wrestler with an Iowa background.
After Humboldt, Iowa native Frank Gotch defeated George Hackenschmidt for the world wrestling title in 1908, Teddy Roosevelt invited Gotch to the White House. As Chapman tells the story in his book, “The Legacy of Frank Gotch,” TR asked Gotch if he could beat a judo expert because the Japanese ambassador was visiting and had brought with him a judo expert—boasting that the Japanese judo expert could whip any American. Gotch accepted the challenge, and in a bout in the East Wing, Gotch quickly forced the Japanese expert to tap out quickly.
No doubt Roosevelt said, or at least thought, “Bully!”
Thanks to UFC for reminding us that the White House has been used for a variety of events…and thanks to Mike Chapman for reminding us of one special story concerning an Iowa legend.
