Booze in the White House
Thursday, January 29th, 2009Slate has an amusing article pointing out the history of alcohol in the White House. President Obama has brought back the long tradition of alcohol now that teetotaler G.W. has left the building.
One of my favorite quotes:
The other famous presidential drunk was Ulysses S. Grant. When he was a general, however, his drunkenness worked in his favor. When informed that Grant drank whiskey while leading his troops, Lincoln reportedly replied, “Find out the name of the brand so I can give it to my other generals.
It reminds me of a decent book I read this summer that points out the fact that so many of our fouding documents were hammered out in dark taverns over pints of ale. (instead of in big shiny glass halls as your elementary school history book illustrations suggest).