At his Delaware home, President Joe Biden used to start each day with a workout in a gym equipped with weights, a treadmill and a Peloton bike (which he argued with his wife Jill about who got to ride first), according to The New York Times.
While the 78-year-old may want to bring his fitness regime with him to the White House, the Secret Service, National Security Agency and CIA may take exception with President Biden bringing the Peloton, at least as currently constituted, as it is could be a potential cybersecurity risk.
An internet-connected stationary bike equipped with a camera and microphone that allows the rider to take part in group training sessions remotely, the Peloton could potentially be targeted by cyberattacks.
In order to prevent that from happening, the bike’s camera and microphone would probably have to be removed and the networking software and equipment would also have to be yanked.
“If he’s the kind of guy who pedals and talks to people, that could be problematic,” Richard Ledgett Jr., a former deputy director of the NSA, told The Times.
Biden will not be the first president who had to change his fitness routine after taking the Oval Office nor will he be the first Commander in Chief who required changes at the White House in order to accommodate his workout needs, according to Front Office Sports.
Consider:
- Early presidents like George Washington and Thomas Jefferson would ride horses down Pennsylvania Avenue and weren’t required to stop at intersections due to a rule.
- Herbert Hoover had his advisers join him to exercise on the South Lawn of the White House and they would throw a medicine ball over a net in a game that became known as Hooverball.
- Franklin D. Roosevelt put a heated swimming pool in the White House in 1933.
- Dwight D. Eisenhower commissioned a putting green outside the Oval Office in 1954.
- Richard Nixon had a one-lane bowling alley built in an underground workspace below the North Portico driveway in 1973.
- Gerald Ford installed an outdoor pool on the White House grounds in 1975.
- Ronald Reagan created an exercise room in the White House’s small West Bedroom in 1981.
- Bill Clinton had a jogging track built around the driveway of the South Grounds during his first term.
- Barack Obama had the White House tennis court adapted so it could be used for both tennis and a full-court game of basketball shortly after taking office.
- Donald Trump designated an entire room to accommodate a golf simulator and also had a new tennis pavilion installed on the White House grounds.
Assuming Biden modifies his bike to the satisfaction of the CIA, NSA and Secret Service, the president’s Peloton will be the next entry on the above list.
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