Presidential Drinking

What was his drink of choice?
We’re finally here, folks! We’ve made it to our first individual to preside over the country during Prohibition! So, since the 18th Amendment was ratified on President Wilson’s watch, he was an avowed Dry, right? WRONG! In fact, he earned the ire of the Anti-Saloon League after he vetoed the Volstead Act. He apparently liked scotch quite a bit, which was definitely way over the 0.5% ABV allowed under Prohibition!

Was he in the booze business?
While Woodrow never made or sold his own booze that we know of, he did have a bit of an alliance with one brand. During his runs for office, he used the same slogan of a popular whiskey at the time, conveniently named Wilson Whiskey. The slogan, “Wilson! That’s all!” would’ve been instantly recognizable to Wet voters and endeared him to them. He just had to hope the Dry ones didn’t know where the slogan came from.

Did he party?
Wilson spent much of his professional life at colleges. He went to Davidson College for a short time before transferring to the College of New Jersey which we know as Princeton today. He then went to the University of Virginia School of Law. After illness forced him to leave, he later returned to academia at the brand-new John Hopkins University. College life didn’t end for him when he graduated, though. He ended up teaching at Bryn Mawr and Wesleyan before ending up back at Princeton. After about a decade, he was president of the university!

Now, we can’t say that all this time on campus made him a party animal. He was a member of a fraternity, but was also dead serious about his career and often suffered from poor health. He seems to have behaved himself. Further evidence for him following the rules comes from when his time in the White House was over. Because it was illegal to “transport” liquor under Prohibition, Wilson applied for special permission from Congress to move his legal liquor stock from the White House to his new private residence.

What was his drink of choice?
Cold, unwavering silence… on the rocks. The legend known as Silent Cal was, as far as we can tell, a very light drinker. He’s said to have enjoyed Tokay wine, a sweet wine from regions in Hungary and Slovakia. There’s no reason to believe he drank with any kind of habit, probably just at dinners and such.

Was he in the booze business?

In honor of Cal’s succinct reputation:

No.

Did he party?
Yes, but against his will. As vice president in the Harding administration and as president himself, Coolidge ended up being obligated to attend all kinds of dinners and parties. According to everybody, Coolidge always looked uncomfortable to be there. President Theodore Roosevelt’s daughter, Alice, quipped that Calvin looked “as though he had been weaned on a pickle.” Asked why he would keep going to these events, he simply replied, “Got to eat somewhere.” 

Likely one of the most raucous parties he attended was a visit to Cuba while president, the last president to do so for more than 80 years. The party had plenty of Americans in attendance, in a country with plenty of rum during Prohibition. But Cal? He reportedly toasted the Cuban president with a glass of water. When he died, Dorothy Parker is said to have joked, “How can they tell?”

What was his drink of choice?
Normally, we use the official presidential portrait for these articles, but we’d be amiss to use any other photo but this one, given how much Franklin D. Roosevelt liked martinis. Liked? Okay. LOVED. He seemed to take enormous pride in making the cocktails for himself, his cabinet members, and world leaders, including Joseph Stalin. He also enjoyed Old Fashioneds and wines, as well as vodka while overseas.

Was he in the booze business?
It depends who you talk to! Ask President Roosevelt and he’d think himself to be quite the mixologist. Ask the folks who drank his creations and the reviews are… less positive. Roosevelt’s martinis were heavy on vermouth, light on gin. Sometimes, he’d add a bit of absinthe if he was feeling extra creative. His grandson, Curtis, claimed that some drinkers called them the worst martinis they’d ever tasted. Joseph Stalin called the one he was served “cold on the stomach.” He also liked to throw together a drink he called his “Haitian libation” which consisted of rum, dry vermouth (can you imagine this guy’s vermouth bills?), egg white, orange juice, and brown sugar. 

It’s also worth mentioning that President Roosevelt was the man who campaigned on the repeal of Prohibition so, in a way, he basically restarted the “booze business.”

Did he party?
Of course he did! For all the talk of martinis though, Roosevelt didn’t drink to excess. Two or three at most was Roosevelt’s usual consumption. When Prime Minister Winston Churchill visited, the two leaders would stay up all night drinking brandy and smoking cigars. According to staff, Roosevelt would have to sleep ten-hour nights for three consecutive days to recover from what they called “Winston Hours.” Beyond alcohol, he enjoyed smoking quite a bit, much to the detriment of his health. The 32nd president was also well-known for his extramarital affairs that began shortly after his marriage to Eleanor and persisted throughout his lifetime and his presidency. 

Franklin Roosevelt set a record for time in office, one that is likely to stand now that the Constitution imposes term limits on the presidency. After being elected to a whopping four terms, he died due to a cerebral hemorrhage shortly into his fourth. Roosevelt’s legacy is far-reaching and the stress of presiding over a financial collapse and a world war may have contributed to his early death in office.

In the world of our museum, he’s most remembered for being the final president to serve during Prohibition. He was the first major candidate to make Prohibition’s repeal a big deal on his platform. Within his first 100 days (a political measure that was actually based on Roosevelt himself) he got Congress to propose a repeal amendment and legalize beer. By the end of the year, the 21st Amendment was ratified, National Prohibition was over, and the (legal) party could finally kick off once again.