What Would the President Eat? Squirrel?

President Garfield was the 20th president of the United States. His presidency was cut very short after being shot just four months after taking office. He died two and a half months later from subsequent infections that weakened his heart. The descriptions of the doctors probing the bullet hole with their unsterilized fingers are frightening. They never found the bullet that was most likely lodged beside his spine but they did manage to perforate his liver.

The President’s last meal was squirrel soup, fed to him on his deathbed in an effort to revive his appetite. He never regained it. After Googling for pictures of squirrel soup I may never regain mine either.

If you are interested in making the Garfield delicacy yourself, follow the instructions of F.L. Gillete, who published “The White House Cook Book” six years after the President’s death.

The meat should be "boiled to shreds," then strained through a colander, "so as to get rid of the squirrel's troublesome little bones,"

One JoS point for the squirrel who gave his life for his President.