The president’s pants

In 1964, the folks at Haggar Clothing Co. send President Lyndon B. Johnson some Haggar pants. He liked them so much that he wanted to order some more. So what did he do? He picked up the phone and called Joe Haggar to place his order. And glory be to God, the phone call was recorded for posterity. Click here to read the transcript or listen to the recording (Real Player required).

Now you’ve got to love a president who (a) orders his own clothes by telephone, and (b) does so by calling the owner of the company. But what really makes this special is the way LBJ explains why he needs more room in the crotch:

LBJ: Now the pockets, when you sit down, everything falls out, your money, your knife, everything, so I need at least another inch in the pockets. And another thing — the crotch, down where your nuts hang — is always a little too tight, so when you make them up, give me an inch that I can let out there, uh because they cut me, it's just like riding a wire fence. These are almost, these are the best I've had anywhere in the United States.

JH: Fine.

LBJ: But, uh when I gain a little weight they cut me under there. So, leave me , you never do have much of margin there. See if you can't leave me an inch from where the zipper (burps) ends, round, under my, back to my bunghole, so I can let it out there if I need to.

JH: Right.

A big tip of the Stetson to The Legal Reader for this one.