We take a whole day out of the year to remember our former (and current) presidents. While it’s my belief that no one actually takes time to honor our prezzies, and instead uses the day as time to catch up on sleep, the holiday has got me askin’ some questions. Being president is a tough job no doubt. Arguably it’s one of the most testing jobs in the world. You’re almost guaranteed to go grey and will undoubtedly put all your relationships to the test. How does one get through four years of that? God forbid you get reelected and have to deal with the world’s shit for eight years. I have to wonder how many of the presidents relied on alcohol to get through it. I did a little research and it turns out quite a few had a thing for adult beverages and some chose beer specifically. This is my top 6 beer lovin’ presidents.
John Adams (2nd President)
President Adams may have been the most beer crazy prezzi of the lot. Some report that he started every morning with a hard cider, others say that he woke up to a beer for breakfast. Reportedly his favorite style of beer was a porter but he also enjoyed rum and Madeira. Historians have even recovered letters written by Adams to his wife describing in detail what kinds of alcohol he wanted, how much and at what prices.- James Garfield (20th President)
There’s not too much known of this president’s drinking habits and his presidency was cut short by his assassination. We do know that President Garfield had a close friend who wrote in his diary “Garfield liked beer and drank but little else.” Despite aggressive lobbying by temperance groups Garfield wouldn’t ban booze in the White House. We like that. - Grover Cleveland (22nd President)
This dude drank a lot of beer and had a huge beer belly to prove it. In fact, legend has it that when he was running for the DA office of Erie County he and another politician took a vow to hold themselves to four beers a day. Supposedly this proved too difficult so they simply switched to larger beer steins to cut down a little on consumption but still keep it a challenge. - John F. Kennedy (35th President)
There are all kind of rumors and legends about this president’s social life. Americans are perhaps most obsessed with this president and it could be that much of his life has been exaggerated and romanticized. But supposedly, JFK liked to drink all kinds of stuff from Bloody Marys to daiquiris to imported beer, especially Heineken. Drinking imported beer was still a fairly new concept and JFK got flack and respect for it. - George W. Bush (43rd President)
His spot on the list is due to his youth, frat guy, party animal, C-average days. He was arrested for driving under the influence in the ‘70s and supposedly boasted of liking to drink the “four B’s” (beer, bourbon and B&B). - Barack Obama (44th President)
Obama’s a beer guy. The Executive Mansion features White House honey ale (with honey from the White House Hives). The Brewer’s Association even honored Obama with a lifetime membership after he brewed the official White House beer along with White House chef Sam Kass.
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