Madeleine Albright and the Leg Press: Controversy Settled, Once and For All

We’ve received a ridiculous number of emails and reader comments about former Secretary of State Madeleine’s Albright’s claim that she can leg press 400 pounds. We’ve heard persuasive contentions and evidence on both sides. The argument has been more vigorous, spirited, and detailed than the congressional debate over the Iraq war resolution.

But now the Albright-and-leg-press dispute has been definitively resolved. From the Washington Whispers column of U.S. News:

Did you laugh when you read former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright’s claim in the New York Times to leg-pressing 400 pounds? Well, she knew you would. So the day after the interview, Albright rushed to her Definitions gym in Georgetown and tagged her trainer, Margo Carper, loaded up the weight on the leg press, and completed 10 reps.

“I got a little nervous after I had said that,” she confessed. “So I got off the red-eye … Thursday, and I went to my place and I said, ‘OK, Margo, we have to do this to prove again that I could do it.’ And so I did.” She adds, “Yes, I do leg-press 400 pounds. To what end I don’t know. I could make a vulgar comment.”

Yes, Madam Secretary, please do! Just be sure that a Wonkette operative is around to hear it, so it can be reported in these pages. This town loves a good “overheard obscenity” pseudo-scandal. Just ask Dick Cheney.

Update: Albright has made some nice progress with the leg press. Back in 2001, on NPR, Albright boasted of being able to leg press 200 pounds (and used a vulgarism in doing so).

Is Kickboxing Next for Albright? [USNWR]
Madeline Albright Reveals Exercise Regimen For “Kicking Ass” [NPR]

Earlier: Madeleine Albright & the Leg Press: The Controversy Rages On
An Addendum on Albright’s Athleticism
Madeleine Albright Can Crush You

READ MORE: exercise, fitness, madaleine albright, secretaries of state