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Show 4 Our Athletic Politicians 200 II III IID ADI IIASA I II Olympic standards. Senator Proxmire insists that the old caricature of the politician as a stuffed shirt with a bloated belly and a big cigar is long overdue for revision. “A number of Senators maintain reasonabiy regular exercise sched- WO POLICEMEN were pa- trolling Greenville, S.C., at midnight last fall, when they noticed a man running through the nearly deserted streets. Suspecting that he may have fled some crime, the policemen called him to a halt. They flushed with embarrassment, however, when their suspect turned out to be Sen. Strom Thurmond who, after a television appearance, was jogging back to his hotel. “I’m just doing it for exercise,” the 68-year-old Senator explained. Fitness seems to be the watchword nowadays, especially in politics, in which a candidate’s personal appearance can be directly responsible for a great numberof votes. Probably the most athletic politician in the Senate is William Proxmire of Wisconsin. Each morning the former Yale boxer and football player rises early, engages in a brisk calisthenics routine that includes 300 pushups, eats breakfast, and then jogs five miles to his Capitol office. He also runs home and that, combined with a run or two on the weekend, gives him a total weekly mileage of about 60 or more—high even by California’s Gov. Ronaid Reagan displays the fine art of horsemanship. ules,” he claims. “For example, Claiborne Pell (R.I.) runs on a track near his house every day. Jacob Javits (N.Y.) plays handball after breakfast and usually swims in the Senate pool in the afternoon. Many Senators follow the routine of Joseph Clark (Penn.), who walks to work three days a week in order to stay in condition.” One of the newest Senators and one of the more athletic is Charles Percy (Ill.). He captained the water polo team at the University of Chicago and met his wife Lorraine while skiing at Sun Valley. The Percy home along the Lake Michigan shore north of Chicago has its own tennis courts and indoor swimGovernor Romney runs for exercise. ming pool. He stil] uses them, but some observers believe he has his eyes on the pool in the White House. Percy also has achieved a reputation for ignoring the elevators and running up and down stairs in the Senate office building. President Lyndon Johnson likes horseback riding, and the odds seem reasonably good that an athlete will succeed him—soonerorlater. Michigan Gov. George Romney runs regularly in the early dawn hours and has been known to play his own version of hurry-up golf: six holes using three balls and running between shots. Gov. Ronald Reagan of California, once played football at Eureka College in Illinois, but maintains his trim figure now by constantexercise. The Kennedyathletic exploits have become legend. There’s hardly a participant sport that Sen. Robert F. Kennedy (N.Y.) has overlooked, including mountain climbing. One friend who knew Bobby at Harvard, Senator Javits enjoys bicycling. |