Donald Trump famously stays away from alcohol, but there is one beverage he can't get enough of. And as a former commander-in-chief, he's not alone! From gallons of wine to on-demand Fresca, here's what every president liked to drink.
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00:00Donald Trump famously stays away from alcohol, but there is one beverage he can't get enough
00:05of, and as a former commander-in-chief, he's not alone. Here's what every president liked
00:09to drink.
00:11As the first chief executive, George Washington is one of the best-known presidents of the
00:15past, present, and future. Yet you may be surprised to learn that the face of our dollar
00:19bill enjoyed crafting beer and distilling whiskey near his Virginia estate, Mount Vernon.
00:24His favorite beverage was a dark porter.
00:26History doesn't always describe a person's personality, but John Adams left a pretty
00:30clear picture of his love affair with cider. He spoke of the elixir often in his letters
00:35to friends and family. According to these documents, hard cider was one of the few things
00:39he considered necessary for a happy life.
00:42This founding father's favorite time was likely wine o'clock, especially considering he was
00:46known to send samples of his favorites to friends. According to his correspondences,
00:50Thomas Jefferson seemed to favor French and Italian wines. He regularly tried new variations
00:55and would often have shipments of wine imported to enjoy at the White House.
00:59"...there's never too much wine to be provided for a gathering."
01:03James Madison reportedly owned thousands of books and sipped on about a pint of whiskey
01:07throughout the day. When he wasn't giving off this iconic image of a scholarly gentleman,
01:12he was toasting with champagne.
01:14Though he was born in Virginia, James Monroe spent a good amount of time in France on political
01:18endeavors. While there, he developed a taste for French wine. According to historian Mark
01:23Will Weber, over 1,000 bottles of champagne and red wine were purchased and imported semi-off
01:27the books while he was president.
01:29Madeira was a favorite wine of our forefathers.
01:32"...plus, the signers toasted the signing of the Declaration of Independence with Madeira."
01:37Though John Quincy Adams' father signed the iconic document, his son and our sixth president
01:42could allegedly identify numerous kinds of the wine by taste.
01:46Andrew Jackson loved whiskey so much that he distilled some of his very own at Hunter's
01:50Hill, his Tennessee distillery, at the turn of the 18th century. In true patriot fashion,
01:55he preferred to drink whiskey made in the United States.
01:58As a young man, Martin Van Buren made a bit of a name for himself as a man who loved to
02:03drink. One of his many nicknames was Blue Whiskey Van, after his love of the amber alcohol.
02:08The first President Harrison not only liked to drink hard cider, it helped him win the
02:12presidential election. His campaign used hard cider as a way to appeal to the people, with
02:16his campaign slogan, Log Cabin & Hard Cider. Still, some sources refute Harrison's love
02:21of hard cider. They say the ninth president was not a drinker at all, and that his drinking
02:25was a campaign ploy.
02:27The end of John Tyler's presidential term saw the White House host quite a few champagne
02:31parties. His sociable wife, Julia, was fond of the drink, as was the president himself.
02:36By all accounts, James Polk wasn't a heavy drinker and was never visibly impaired by
02:41alcohol, according to Contemporaries. He did, however, drink in moderation and liked to
02:45sip on wine.
02:46Zachary Taylor is one of the few presidents who didn't drink much alcohol. He is known
02:50to have enjoyed a large amount of iced milk and cherries shortly before his death, with
02:54the rumor he was poisoned with them. Milk was a popular drink for those who did not
02:58imbibe alcohol, and it's possible Taylor drank it often.
03:02Like Taylor, Millard Fillmore didn't drink much alcohol. As he had a humble background,
03:06it makes sense that he had a humble inclination for water.
03:09Franklin Pierce became president in his late 40s and was said to drink to excess both before
03:14and after his term in the White House. Though it isn't documented which alcoholic beverage
03:18he preferred, it is reported that quite a lot of it was consumed by our 14th president.
03:23James Buchanan's tastes for alcohol were apparently quite wide-ranging. He kept a variety of wines
03:28on hand and reportedly bought around 10 gallons of wine a week when he was in his prime.
03:33In a world where Abe Lincoln found enjoyment in alcohol, he'd likely be a hard cider guy.
03:38Apples were one of the only things Lincoln would eat, so cider would be an obvious choice.
03:42In our universe, he supported the anti-alcohol temperance movement, and it was water, milk,
03:46and coffee that filled his cup.
03:48Andrew Johnson was known to enjoy a good party, and he'd drink whiskey while getting in the
03:52spirit to celebrate. It's also said that he consumed even more whiskey to help himself
03:56get over a hangover.
03:58History knows Ulysses S. Grant as a heavy drinker, though the truth is a source of controversy
04:03where Grant experts are concerned.
04:04What's happened historically is that Grant's opponents derided him as a drunkard.
04:10He did binge drink at times and is associated with the Old Crow brand of whiskey. The Civil
04:15War general may have also had a love for champagne.
04:18Rutherford B. Hayes' association with lemonade came from his temperance-minded wife, Lucy,
04:23who served the sweet and refreshing drink in the White House in place of alcohol.
04:27We don't always have solid accounts of our forefathers' favorite beverages, but a love
04:31for beer was pretty clear as far as James Garfield was concerned. In 1881, associate
04:36Thomas E. Donaldson wrote that Garfield
04:38"...liked beer and drank but little else."
04:41Chester A. Arthur enjoyed a range of beverages. He usually ended the night with a variety
04:45of spirits, and one of his favorite meals was accompanied with ale. He also enjoyed
04:49a good glass of wine.
04:51Grover Cleveland drank a staggering amount of beer. It's said that when limiting his
04:55beer consumption, he'd still drink a gallon a night.
04:58By all accounts, Benjamin Harrison was one of the U.S. presidents who did not drink alcohol.
05:03His wife did host White House tea parties, though. Considering this and his avoidance
05:07of alcohol, tea was likely his preferred beverage.
05:10William McKinley reportedly liked to have a bit of whiskey before he retired for the
05:14night, but his connection to the sophisticated alcohol goes deeper than that. As a cocktail
05:18was named after him on the presidential campaign trail, McKinley's delight is made with rye
05:22whiskey, cherry liqueur, vermouth, and absinthe.
05:26While you'd expect a rugged rough-rider like Theodore Roosevelt to sip straight bourbon
05:30or enjoy a good mead, he was a light drinker. He did enjoy the occasional fresh mint julep
05:34with mint from the White House garden.
05:36Taft mostly abstained from both alcohol and smoking. His exception was cider-like persimmon
05:41beer, which was regarded as a temperance-safe drink despite the fact that it contained some
05:45alcohol.
05:47It's not surprising that a president would need a stiff drink during wartime, and Woodrow
05:50Wilson certainly liked a finger or two of scotch whiskey. Yet he was a moderate drinker
05:54who only took a glass casually at night.
05:57Warren G. Harding loved whiskey. However, his love of the drink was problematic, seeing
06:02as he was president during Prohibition. Harding allegedly served bootlegged liquor at the
06:07White House, and the whiskey was reportedly sourced from the Justice Department's seized
06:11stash.
06:12Though Calvin Coolidge also served as president during Prohibition, he didn't totally support
06:16the banning of alcohol. Publicly, he did seem to abide by the law of the land, but it's
06:20reported that he enjoyed a glass of toque wine occasionally.
06:24As another president whose term overlapped with Prohibition, Herbert Hoover kept a dry
06:28White House. The banning of alcohol ended the same year he left office, and as a former
06:33president, he enjoyed a couple of martinis in the evening. He liked his martinis dry
06:36with a touch of vermouth to dilute the gin.
06:39As the president who finally ended Prohibition, Franklin D. Roosevelt was popular. Fittingly,
06:44he enjoyed making custom cocktails for his guests at the White House. His cocktail of
06:48choice was an unconventional martini, in which he mixed a bit of gin and absinthe with a
06:52lot of vermouth. Reportedly, these presidential concoctions were terrible.
06:56Harry S. Truman had a straightforward leadership style, which pairs nicely with his drink of
07:00choice. Truman preferred an Old Fashioned, which is a classic standby whiskey cocktail.
07:05Apparently, Truman liked his served at extra strength, as he believed a mistake of crafting
07:09an Old Fashioned was making it too sweet.
07:12Small dinner parties were a normal occurrence at the White House when Dwight D. Eisenhower
07:16was in office and drinks poured freely. His beverage of choice at these intimate events
07:20was a scotch on the rocks.
07:22JFK was clearly a very social president, and he often had an alcoholic beverage in his
07:26hand when he made appearances. He liked a good mixed drink, like Bloody Marys or his
07:31favorite, a daiquiri. When he opted for a beer, he was known to have reached for a Heineken.
07:36Coca-Cola rolled out Fresca, a citrus soda, in 1966, which was smack dab in the middle
07:41of Lyndon B. Johnson's presidency. Apparently, the beverage went over well with the commander-in-chief,
07:45because Johnson installed the Fresca button at his Oval Office desk. When pushed, the
07:50button prompted a staff member to serve him the refreshing drink.
07:53When it came to wine, Nixon liked it French, dark, and expensive. Though he's reported
07:57to have enjoyed all types of red wine, he did have a standby. He frequented the 21 Club
08:02in New York City, where staff knew to have a bottle of Chateau Margaux ready for his
08:06visits.
08:07Gerald Ford liked to drink martinis so much that, according to Mark Will Weber, White
08:11House staff asked him to lower his consumption.
08:14Gerald Ford once said,
08:15"'The three-martini lunch' is the epitome of efficiency."
08:18As far as non-alcoholic beverages go, he enjoyed a coffee or an iced tea.
08:23Despite having been a champion for the American craft beer scene, Jimmy Carter does not drink
08:27alcohol often. He lives a quiet and rather humble life post-presidency, which implies
08:32that he'd now rather enjoy the simplicity of water over any more powerful beverage.
08:37Unlike many other former presidents, Ronald Reagan did not really care for liquor. Instead,
08:41he found quite a lot of enjoyment in a glass of wine. As his political career began in
08:46California, he was partial to the state's booming wine industry and drank wine from
08:49many of the state's wineries.
08:51Though martinis are traditionally made with gin, some enjoy the classic cocktail made
08:55with the substitution of vodka. George H.W. Bush fit right in with this class of drinker
09:00and preferred a vodka martini when he would occasionally drink alcohol.
09:04Where some former presidents enjoy a straightforward drink, Bill Clinton's beverage of choice is
09:08an unconventional mixed drink called a snake bite. Made from equal parts lager and cider,
09:13this drink isn't one you typically get at a bar, so Clinton likely has it custom-made.
09:18Unlike his father who served as president before him, George W. Bush did not drink alcohol
09:22while in office. He quit drinking in the 80s and has enjoyed non-alcoholic beverages ever
09:27since. He seems to like the taste of beer, though, because he's been known to drink non-alcoholic
09:31beer.
09:32Barack Obama is known as a man who likes a trend, and the craft beer scene has been all
09:36the rage since he was in office. Obama not only has been seen enjoying a brew during
09:40his appearances when appropriate, but he also even crafted some of his own when in the White
09:44House.
09:46Remember Lyndon B. Johnson's Fresca button? Well, Donald Trump, who doesn't drink alcohol,
09:50apparently took inspiration from that and installed his own Diet Coke button. The button
09:55was actually kind of warranted, as he reportedly drinks 12 Diet Cokes a day, 11 more than the
10:00recommended number of Diet Cokes to consume in a day.
10:02Like his frequent political opponent, Donald Trump, Joe Biden does not partake in alcohol.
10:08Instead, he goes for something seen at virtually every American sports game and in most vending
10:13machines across the nation. Orange Gatorade is Biden's drink of choice, to the point where
10:17it's regularly kept in stock at his home.