In recognition of Presidents' Day we wanted to honor many of our great leaders and tell a few stories about their favorite Skout bar flavors. As many of you know, Skout was founded back in 2009 but dates back much further than that. It all started with our founding fathers, when writing the Declaration of Independence in 1776 they spent hours and hours in a room. In order to keep themselves from leaving they ate organic, plant-based, and simple-ingredient date-based snack bars, which at the time they made at home using the ingredients they grew on their land.
Here’s our list of presidents and their favorite Skout Organic flavors.
George Washington - Chocolate Cherry
We’ve all heard the legend of George Washington and the cherry tree. For those of you that do not know the story, when Washington was six years old he received a hatchet as a gift and damaged his father’s cherry tree. When his father discovered what he had done, he became angry and confronted him. Young George bravely said, “I cannot tell a lie…I did cut it with my hatchet.” Washington’s father embraced him and rejoiced that his son’s honesty.
With any old story or legend there’s always some embellishment of the truth, and in this story there was a big piece that’s not been told. George Washington did cut down that tree, and he did admit his wrongdoing to his father, but did you know that George Washington cut that cherry tree down to make his own date-based protein bar with just 6 ingredients? George’s first recipe was the inspiration behind our Chocolate Cherry Protein bar.
Abraham Lincoln - Pumpkin Pie
Each year, families gather on the last Thursday of November for a day of Thanksgiving — a day that is filled with feasting, family, and even football. But where did this tradition come from?
Many think back to the “first Thanksgiving” as a feast the pilgrims held at the harvest to express gratitude to the Wampanoag for helping them survive after their arrival at Plymouth Rock in 1620. But it wasn’t until October of 1863 that President Abraham Lincoln issued a proclamation establishing the last Thursday of November as a national day of Thanksgiving. And so it began. The turkey, the stuffing, the cranberry sauce, and Lincoln’s favorite—the pumpkin pie. It’s said that he could be found snacking on Pumpkin Pie Kids Snack Bars on more than just one day each year.
Howard Taft - French Toast
President Taft was one of our largest presidents at nearly 350 lbs, and he was known for loving his baths. There’s even a rumor that Taft got stuck in the white house bathtub and 6 men had to come in and dislodge him from the tub. Many historians have debunked this story though.
As a fan of baths and delicious snacks it’s also said that Taft would often enjoy a nice warm bath with a box of Skout French Toast snack bars. Taft would often tell other White House staff “no bath would be complete without my rubber ducky and my box of French Toast bars.”
John F. Kennedy - Blueberry Blast
In 1961, President John F. Kennedy began a dramatic expansion of the U.S. space program and committed the nation to the ambitious goal of landing a man on the Moon by the end of the decade.
As space exploration continued through the 1960s, the United States was on its way to the Moon. Project Gemini was the second NASA spaceflight program. Its goals were to perfect the entry and re-entry maneuvers of a spacecraft and conduct further tests on how individuals are affected by long periods of space travel.
There was one very influential character in this program that helped design, build, and train these future astronauts, by the name of Blueberry Blast aka “BB”. BB was ahead of her time, making individual space missions powered by her spirited rockets. Her experience and influence on the space program changed the trajectory, which lead to the Apollo Program. BB and JFK’s partnership with NASA made it possible to land humans on the moon later in the decade and on July 20, 1969 realizing President Kennedy's dream. Thanks BB!
Jimmy Carter - Raspberry Rush
President Carter has been a runner throughout his life—in his college days, he was a member of the plebe cross-country team at the Naval Academy—and as a running enthusiast, read and absorbed every popular book on the subject. According to Carter himself, “I can click off a mile in 6½ minutes when I really turn it on."
Once in the Whitehouse, his wife Rosalynn joined him on runs around the property and at Camp David. She wanted to make sure her Jimmy was getting enough exercise, so she hired Secret Service agent James “Raspberry” Rush to train him and ensure his safety. James, a world class sprinter, ran with the president for the four years Carter was in office, and until this day they remain snacking friends.
Andrew Johnson - Peach Cobbler
In 1867 President Johnson fought against the congress to veto the Tenure of Office Act, which was put in place to keep Edwin M. Stanton in as Secretary of war. Ultimately this did not stop Johnson from dismissing Stanton from his duties and appointing Ulysses S. Grant as the new secretary of war. Congress was not happy and drew up the first ever articles of impeachment in our governments history.
When Johnson received the first article of impeachment, he was thrilled as he thought he was sent a flyer (or what we now think of as an email) letting him know about the launch of the new Skout Organic Peach Cobbler flavor. He was not only disappointed that he was potentially going to lose his job as President of the United States, he was even more disappointed that he was going to have to wait until 2022 for Skout Organic to launch their Peach Cobbler flavor.
Dwight D. Eisenhower - Chocolate Brownie
Every presidential historian knows that Dwight D. Eisenhower had a real sweet tooth. HIs most favorite sweet treat was his wife Maime’s delicious “million dollar” brownies. Dwight made almost all of his most important decisions with a plate of Maime’s delectable delights for Dwight right by his side.
One thing that Dwight was never aware of was that Maime crafted these million dollar brownies using only handful of plant-based, organic ingredients that indeed made a delicious treat. Fast forward to 2021 when one of Maime’s great, great, great grandchildren came to work at Skout Organic and used his great great great grandmother’s recipe for inspiration in creating our own Chocolate Brownie snack bar.
Theodore Roosevelt - Apple Pie
Roosevelt was known as the conservation president, and during his presidency he doubled the number of sites in our National Parks System. He would go on long adventures with his friend Andy Apple Pie (Johnny Appleseed’s Cousin). He and Andy would hike around for days in search of the most beautiful land they could find and preserve. There would always be two things that you would see when Andy and Teddy we’re out hiking: a big walking stick and a bag of Skout Apple Pie snack bars.
President Roosevelt always said “Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far." Roosevelt was decisive and intelligent in his foreign policy. It’s said that he would eat Apple Pie Skout bars to keep him from getting hangry and acting up with another nation.
Thanks for reading and we hope you enjoyed learning more about our presidents and their love for Skout Organic snacks. As a thank you for reading here's 20% off your next order, use code PRESIDENTS at checkout and find your favorite flavor!