Soles of presidents kick off last leg of campaign season

NEW YORK (AP) -- Shoemaker Johnston & amp; Murphy, which has been handcrafting shoes for presidents since 1850, kicks off the last leg of the campaign season with a tour of its presidential shoe collection, featuring footwear from Presidents Lincoln, Kennedy, Reagan, Grant and others.
"The presidential shoes offer a unique perspective on the sense of style that characterized our nation's leaders," says Jon Caplan, president of Johnston & amp; Murphy. "They give us great insight into the fashion trends prevalent during different terms of office and reveal how each president interpreted these trends to create his own individual style."
For example, Abraham Lincoln requested black ankle boots in a size 14, the largest of any president. Bill Clinton had the largest foot of any modern-era president -- a size 13.
Meanwhile, Woodrow Wilson preferred white buckskin shoes in size 9 and Warren Harding wore spats representative of the Victorian era.
President Bush chose a shoe very similar to the one his father wore: a black cap-toe, lace-up shoe.
The exhibit was in Boston and New York for the Democratic and Republican conventions and will be in Tempe, Ariz., in October for the third presidential debate and then in Little Rock, Ark., for the grand opening of the Clinton Presidential Library. In January the three showcases of shoes will go to Washington for the presidential inauguration.
Johnston & amp; Murphy has made a pair of shoes for every president since Millard Fillmore, regardless of political party.