Toilets of World Leaders:
The Throne Behind the Power

This page provides an overview of the toilets and other plumbing belonging to world leaders. Click on any of the pictures or links to be taken to detailed explanations with more pictures.

The Chamber Pot of Agamemnon

Mycenae, or Μυκήνες in Greek, was first settled by Neolithic people in the 6th millennium BC. It's in the Peloponnese, south of Korinthia and southwest of Athens in what today is southern Greece.

Between about 2100 and 1900 BC, during the Old Bronze Age, Indo-European people crossed Anatolia, moved through Troy and on to the west and south through Greece. Existing settlements in the mainland were primitive, and the new arrivals brought an advanced culture. A number of small kingdoms were established.

The kingdom of Mycenae became the most powerful by far, leading to the entire civilization of that area being called Mycenaean. For the 400 years from 1600 to 1200 BC, Mycenae was the most powerful kingdom in Greece.

It's hard to distinguish history from myth in Mycenae. But somewhere around the 14th Century BC, there really seems to have been a King Agamemnon of Mycenae. Agamemnon's brother was Menelaus. According to Homer, Menelaus' wife Helen was abducted by Paris of Troy and taken back to his city on the northwest coast of Anatolia. Agamemnon then commanded the Achaean forces (what we often mis-label as "Greek" today) in the Trojan War.

Meanwhile, back in the royal citadel of Mycenae, the above pictures shows King Agamemnon's innermost royal chamber, and therefore the location of his chamber pot. Make that his Royal Chamber Pot.

At right is the public latrine in the nearby fortress of Tiryns.

See the detailed Mycenaean toilet page for many more pictures and historical details of the two powerful city-states.

The Roman Senate Latrine

The city block of Rome between Largo di Torre Argentina and Via Florida on the north and south, respectively, and Via di Torre Argentina and Via San Nicola da' Cesarini on the west and east, respectively, contains a number of plumbing-related Roman ruins.

The Statio Aquarum or the Office of the Department of Water Distribution are located here.

Also, the portico of Pompey, formally known as Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, was located here. It served as the Roman Senate house. The Senate met there, and it was where Julius Caesar was assassinated on 15 March 44 BC.

A large public latrine is in the northwest corner of this excavated block. This would have been the toilet used when the Roman Senate took a bathroom break, since the Senate met in the building adjacent to the south side of this large latrine.

A long row of seats, now missing, would have been directly over the large channel. Users would have been seated facing toward our right in this view, or toward the more recent brick wall, so they could bend forward and dip water from the shallow channel running past their feet.

More pictures and historical details are on the dedicated Roman Republic era toilet page.

Roman Emperor Nero's Toilet

Roman Emperor Nero had a luxurious villa in the town of Oplontis, the Villa Poppaea. Unfortunately for Nero, his villa was close to Pompeii, and more significantly, very close to Vesuvius.

Nero was born 15 December 37 AD, and ruled from 13 October 54 until his death by suicide on 9 June 68. He had accomplished quite a bit by then, but mentioning that is much like pointing out that Adolf Hitler liked dogs.

In 53, Nero married his stepsister Claudia Octavia. Then, in 58, Nero began an affair with Poppaea Sabina, the wife of his friend (and future Emperor) Otho. He then ordered the murder of his mother in 59 because it did not seem politically feasible to divorce his stepsister and marry his friend's wife while his mother was alive.

After Nero marryied Poppaea Sabina in 59, she used this as her main residence when she was not in Rome. And here we can see the large multi-person latrine inside the villa.

Click here for many more pictures and details about Nero's villa, his career, and this latrine.

The Latrines of Galerius

Galerius, formally and fully known as Gaius Galerius Valerius Maximianus, was born around 260 AD. He was Roman Emperor from 305 to 311.

Galerius based himself in Thessaloniki because, let's face it, Rome was pretty well gone by the early 300s. Constantinople was where you found culture. Since there was an Augustus already ruling in Constantinople, and Rome was a wreck, Galerius had a base in Thessaloniki where several Galerian monuments survive.

One of these is the excavated site of his palace, on today's Plateia Navarinou. Of course it had latrines, and of course I photographed them.

The Ottoman Sultan's Toilet

This is the Imperial Ottoman Throne, at least in some sense.

This is the toilet of the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, the ruler of all the Middle East, northern Africa, and south-east Europe. This toilet is in the harem, the private quarters of the sultan, in Topkapı Palace in İstanbul, Turkey, the official and primary residence of the Ottoman Sultans from 1465 through 1853.

There's a board over the hole, but you can still appreciate the fine marble and Sultan-level craftsmanship.

The Imperial Ottoman Turkish toilet page has further details on this toilet, and pictures and details of another mid to late Ottoman toilet design from Bodrum.

Benjamin Franklin's Privy Pits

Benjamin Franklin's privy pit can be seen at the site of his home in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. A nearby sign says:

This brick-lined, circular "necessary" (privy) pit was probably built when Franklin expanded his house in 1786-1787. A stone drain connecting to a vertical brick pipe conveyed waste into the pit either from Franklin's "water closet", "bathing room", or "run-off" from the sunken areaway outside the cellar kitchen.

The dedicated page has more pictures and details of this privy pit, a second privy pit, and a nearby well.

Woodrow Wilson's Toilets, Tubs, and Sinks

Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States, serving 1913-1921. He initially kept the U.S. out of what later came to be known as World War I, but Germany's increasing belligerence forced the U.S. into the war.

Wilson negotiated for the armistice ending World War I, aiming for an equitable peace and statehood for formerly oppressed nations. His famous Fourteen Points address introduced the idea of a League of Nations to preserve territorial integrity and political independence. He was given the 1919 Nobel Peace Prize for his peace-making efforts.

He suffered a debilitating stroke toward the end of his second term in office, gradually improving through the remainder of that term. He and his wife retired to a very nice home in Washington. He died in 1924, and she continued living in the house until her death in 1961.

Here you see Woodrow Wilson's toilet in the bathroom off his bedroom, and the large sink in the kitchen.

See the dedicated page for many more pictures and details about Woodrow Wilson and his home in Washington.

Leon Trotsky's Toilet, Tub, and Hot Water Heater

Leon Trotsky was born Lev Davidovich Bronshtein. He changed his name during Czarist days to something derived a German term for "defiance". Lenin probably would have named him as his successor, but Lenin's stroke prevented that. Trotsky was a party theorist, and seems to have been closer to the original intent of Marx than any other prominent Soviet figure.

When Stalin seized power, Trotsky left for exile in Mexico. He was sentenced to death in absentia and was assassinated with an ice ax in Mexico City in 1940 by an agent of Stalin.

You can tour his luxurious home in Mexico City. The communist leaders were all for collectivism and "from each according to his abilities, to each according to their needs", so long as it didn't apply to them. Their needs-to-abilities ratios were always rather high.

See the detailed Leon Trotsky page for many more details, and pictures of Trotsky's toilet, tub, and hot water heater.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Toilet

Franklin Roosevelt was elected to four terms as U.S. President, serving from 1933 until his death during his fourth term in 1945.

No, this is not him — it's a rather startled looking manniquin on board the Sacred Cow, his Douglas C-54 Skymaster that was the first purpose-built U.S. Presidential aircraft. It is now at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base outside Dayton, Ohio.

Roosevelt's on-board lavatory is barely visible through the curtain behind him. See pictures of its exterior on the dedicated page.

Winston Churchill's Chamber Pot

Winston Churchill was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, 1940-1945 and 1955-1955, and was one of the great wartime leaders.

This is Churchill's private room within the Cabinet War Rooms in London.

The Cabinet War Rooms were a fortified underground complex where the British leadership monitored and controlled military action during World War II.

The dedicated page shows more pictures, including one of a toilet in a secret government bunker dug into the White Cliffs of Dover.

Harry S Truman's Toilet

U.S. Vice-President Harry Truman assumed the office of President upon the death of Franklin Roosevelt in 1945, and won re-election in 1948.

The Independence was his custom built VC-118, the military designation for the Douglas Corporation DC-6 airliner. It is also at the WPAFB museum. The private Presidential lavatory is shown here.

The dedicated page also has pictures of Truman's wash basin in his personal lavatory area, and the general purpose lavatory used by his staff and the aircraft crew, as well as views of the aircraft's exterior.

Dwight Eisenhower's Toilets

Dwight Eisenhower was the Supreme Commander of Allied Forces in Western Europe during World War II. He planned and led all major operations in the Western European Theatre of Operations, with OVERLORD, the Allied invasion of Normandy in June 1944 being the biggest of all.

After the war he served as the commander of NATO, and in 1952 and 1956 he was elected to two terms as President of the U.S.A.

See the dedicated page to learn about his retirement home near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, and to read how Winston Churchill, Charles De Gaulle, and Nikita Krushchev may have also used the very toilet seen at left here.

At right is the private lavatory within the Presidential stateroom area on board the Columbine III, a Lockheed Super Constellation providing the U.S. President true nonstop intercontinental travel ability for the first time. The dedicated page also shows the general purpose lavatory used by his staff and the aircraft crew, as well as views of the aircraft's exterior as seen at the WPAFB museum.

Robert F Kennedy's Water Fluoridation System

Soon after his brother's election as U.S. President, Robert F Kennedy was named Attorney General of the United States.

He was also selected by the Centers for Disease Control to test a home water fluoridation system.

Here is a picture of the unit. See the detailed page for more pictures, background on water fluoridation, and directions to where this filter can be seen today.

Air Force One: Presidential airborne toilet used by Presidents Kennedy through Clinton

U.S. Presidents Franklin Roosevelt through Eisenhower had personal aircraft, all of which were given distinctive names by their VIP users.

A USAF Boeing VC-137C, the military designation for the 707-320B, was built specifically for use by the President of the United States during the administration of John F. Kennedy. The aircraft had serial number 62-6000 and used callsign SAM 26000 (for "Special Air Mission") during routine flight, and Air Force One when the President was on board. The Boss would be seated at the table seen here, with a personal lavatory through the narrow doorway behind it.

This aircraft carried Kennedy and all of the next seven Presidents: Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and Clinton. Today it is at the WPAFB museum.

U.S. Senator Larry Craig's Airport Men's Room Stall

On June 11, 2007, U.S. Senator Larry Craig of Idaho was arrested for lewd conduct in a men's restroom at the Minneapolis — St. Paul International Airport (MSP).

Yes, I realize that this page is titled "Toilets of World Leaders", but then I also included Nero. "Toilets of Political Figures" might have been a better title.

See the dedicated page for details on the whole sordid mess: Craig's apparent solicitation, the arresting officer's report, Craig's Senatorial mug shot, the debacle of Craig's attempt to fight the charges, and several more pictures of the scene of the crime.

Rose George's The Big Necessity: The Unmentionable World of Human Waste and Why It Matters is a fascinating description of sanitation conditions around the world. "2.6 billion people don't have sanitation. [....] Four in ten people have no access to any latrine, toilet, bucket, or box."

In September 2009, Morna Gregory and Sian James published a book titled Toilets of the World. It's pretty much the same theme that you find here — photographs and commentary on other people's plumbing.

The Porcelain God: A Social History of the Toilet, by Julie Horan, contends that civilization began with the toilet.

Toilet: Public Restrooms and the Politics of Sharing, edited by Laura Noren and Harvey Molotch, has essays by anthropologists, sociologists, and architects on the importance of the toilet, especially for urban dwellers.

Latrinae Et Foricae: Toilets in the Roman World describes the toilets of the Roman Empire from Iberia to Syria, and from North Africa to Hadrian's Wall in Britannia.

Toilets, Bathtubs, Sinks, and Sewers: A History of the Bathroom, explains the history of personal cleanliness and hygiene to children in grades 5-8.

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