
Presidential Drinking
Part 6: Cleveland to Taft
The story of Prohibition is very much the story of America’s relationship with alcohol throughout our history. It has shaped our politics, our culture, and our economy. Changing American tastes and values had enormous influence over just how present alcohol, and what types of it, has been in our society. A fascinating gauge of those changing tastes is looking at how our presidents from the Founding Fathers all the way up to the incumbent have interacted, or not interacted, with beer, wine and spirits.
In this series, Presidential Drinking, we’ve dug deep into what place alcohol had in each president’s life from their favorite drinks to whether it contributed to their business practices throughout their lives to whether they… well… imbibed a little too much from time to time.

President Grover Cleveland, served 1885 – 1889, 1893 - 1897
What was his drink of choice?
Grover Cleveland might just be our biggest beer fan yet, but so much for quality reasons; he was no beer snob. His habits were more about quantity. He drank so much that he entered into a pact with a friend to limit themselves to just four beers per day. The question then becomes, how much were they drinking before that? Well, to get an idea, look no further than how the pact turned out. Cleveland and his friend found the arrangement untenable and amended it to “four tankards per day.”
Was he in the booze business?
No, but he kept a few beer halls in business! Cleveland frequented saloons and just generally loved beer hall culture in Buffalo, NY. Cleveland’s father was a presbyterian minister and named his son Stephen Grover Cleveland in honor of the first pastor of his church. Throughout the Civil War, Cleveland was focused on his law practice and was successful enough to hire somebody to fight in the war in his place. After serving as mayor of Buffalo, governor of New York, and president in two non-consecutive terms (the first of only two presidents to do so) he retired to his New Jersey mansion.
Did he party?
When not in the beer halls, President Cleveland was living it up as a bachelor. Unlike Buchanan before him, his bachelor status didn’t last long. The circumstances of his marriage are a bit unusual, but the American people of the time didn’t seem bothered by it. At 49, Grover Cleveland married Frances Folsom, the 21-year-old daughter of a deceased friend, Oscar Folsom. Cleveland was the executor of Folsom’s estate.
Frances Cleveland remains the youngest First Lady in American history. The Clevelands are the only presidential couple in history to have their wedding in the White House. During his first election, a campaign issue centered around President Cleveland’s fathering of a child, who was named after Oscar Folsom, years before his marriage. However, the scandal did little to keep him from the White House.
The Clevelands are the only presidential couple in history to have their wedding in the White House.

President Benjamin Harrison, served 1889 - 1893
What was his drink of choice?
While we’ve covered presidents who didn’t drink before, they haven’t yet been known for any non-alcoholic drink in particular. That all changes here! Benjamin Harrison, grandson of cider-drinker President William H. Harrison, didn’t care for hard cider, beer, or whiskey. He’s a noted enjoyer of TEA! The tea connection goes back in the Harrison family: William’s father was a Patriot, but did think that the East India Company should be reimbursed in the wake of the Boston Tea Party.
Was he in the booze business?
Certainly not. However, the booze business got a bit involved with him! Scottish industrialist, Andrew Carnegie, sent President Harrison an unsolicited cask of scotch from the Dewar’s company in 1891. It angered American distillers and it, of course, infuriated the Temperance groups. While there’s no record of Benjamin Harrison feeling any kind of way about it, he probably didn’t really know what to do with it. One person that did celebrate the cask’s arrival was Tommy Dewar! The controversy over the cask sparked a renewed interest in his scotch!
Did he party?
No. However, there’s at least a little proof that the middle-aged president could still move when he had to. Harrison had gifted his grandson a goat that they named either Old Whiskers or His Whiskers. Either way, a first-rate goat name. Harrison loved his grandchildren and would routinely play with them at the White House. Old Whiskers had a little sleigh attached to him that the kids would ride around on. One day, the goat TOOK OFF with the kids in tow and blasted right through the gates of the White House. The people of our nation’s capital were treated to the sight of their incumbent president chasing a runaway goat, waving a cane, to rescue his grandchildren.
Benjamin Harrison, grandson of cider-drinker President William H. Harrison, didn’t care for hard cider, beer, or whiskey. He’s a noted enjoyer of TEA!

President William McKinley, served 1897 - 1901
What was his drink of choice?
President McKinley apparently enjoyed a good cigar and a whiskey cocktail. For his 1896 campaign, a cocktail was named after him called “McKinley’s Delight.” It contained whiskey (or possibly gin at first), vermouth, cherry brandy, and absinthe. His opponent, William Jennings Bryan, also had his own campaign cocktail called the “Free Silver Fizz” with gin, lime, and soda water, not unlike a Gin Rickey. The dueling cocktails are a bit odd, given that both men had their hands in the Temperance Movement at points in their career.
Was he in the booze business?
Far from it! In fact, McKinley had a bit of a reputation for cracking down on illicit liquor sales as a prosecutor. In his younger years, he had been a Temperance man. Born and raised in Ohio, a hotbed of the Temperance Movement, McKinley allied early on with those groups. As such, they very much celebrated his election in 1896, thinking he would be the one to make major gains towards total prohibition.
Did he party?
Here’s the thing. Despite McKinley’s dry reputation, he “softened” a little bit over the years, drinking a whiskey nightcap now and again. The Temperance Movement’s hopes of having one of their own in the White House were quickly dashed when McKinley refused to take a hard stance on the liquor issue during his first campaign. Worse yet, when he took office, he and First Lady Ida McKinley started serving wines at official events.
Such a public display of drinking infuriated many Temperance advocates. They called it “a sad surprise” and “a direct blow at the home and the Church.” WCTU president, Frances Willard, did speak up for McKinley’s “noble impulses” while also acknowledging the news as a “national sorrow for temperance people.” A man name John G. Woolley wrote that “his example will destroy millions of boys, and cheat millions of women of their heart’s happiness.”
After McKinley’s 1901 assassination, Carry Nation caused quite the controversy by suggesting that he got what he deserved.
So, no, McKinley didn’t party all that much, but you wouldn’t know it if you asked the Drys!

President Chester A. Arthur, served 1881 - 1885
What was his drink of choice?
President Roosevelt apparently loved a mint julep. He even had mint in the White House Garden that he used to make his own! However, TR (his preferred casual nickname over the more popular “Teddy”) was quick to point out that he did not over-imbibe and even sued for libel over a claim by a newspaper that he was frequently drunk. In his testimony, he doubted that he even drank more than a half-dozen juleps over the course of an entire year.
Was he in the booze business?
Theodore had plenty of interests, but making or selling alcohol never really was one. Intensely interested in the natural world, he very nearly went to university for natural science but chose law instead. He was an ornithologist, a naval historian, and a rancher; he published books in all three subjects. He left his position as Assistant Secretary to the Navy, a position that his relative and fellow president, Franklin D. Roosevelt also held, to serve in the Spanish-American War as a Rough Rider. It’s honestly shocking that his varied and intense interests managed to avoid alcohol production.
Did he party?
We’re not about to say anything about the rumors that Roosevelt frequently drank; we’re not totally sure he wouldn’t try to sue over it still. We’re actually more interested in how TR dealt with tragedy in his life. After covering presidents like Pierce who utilized alcohol to drown out the intense horrors of loss, it’s interesting to see a different approach. In 1884, Roosevelt lost his wife and mother on the same day in the same house. His diary entry that day was a simple one: “The light has gone out of my life.”
Roosevelt immediately fled west and spent time as a rancher in the Dakotas. The president thrived off adrenaline much more than alcohol.
It’s honestly shocking that his varied and intense interests managed to avoid alcohol production.

President William Howard Taft, served 1909 - 1913
What was his drink of choice?
President Taft wasn’t a habitual drinker. No daily ciders, kegs on kegs of whiskey, or massive wine cellars for him. That doesn’t mean he didn’t imbibe, though! Taft was known to enjoy alcohol in celebratory atmospheres and, as such, was partial to champagne and anything else offered at a party. Ginger ale seemed to be a particular favorite. More on that in a minute.
Was he in the booze business?
Even as a young lawyer, Taft had his eye on the highest court in the land, the Supreme Court. Reportedly, President Harrison considered him for a vacancy in 1889, but appointed Taft as Solicitor General instead. By 1900, another president and fellow William, President McKinley, was considering him for a seat on the court. Instead, he sent him to help form a civilian government in the Philippines. McKinley promised him the next available seat, but his assassination prevented him from fulfilling the promise.
The next president, Theodore Roosevelt, offered a seat to him, but Taft felt responsible to his work in the Philippines and accepted Secretary of War instead. Then, Roosevelt hand-picked Taft to follow him in the presidency, ostensibly sealing his fate away from his dream of sitting on the court. To add salt to the wound, Taft ended up making nearly more appointments to the court in a single term than any other president except for George Washington (who had to appoint the initial justices) and Franklin D. Roosevelt (who had more than three terms to do so.)
Taft watched as he elevated six others to the place that he dreamed of reaching himself. Then, in 1921, the Chief Justice of the United States died and the nomination finally came from President Harding. Thirty years of hoping and a career of hard work finally paid off and made Taft the only president to ever serve on the Supreme Court, let alone as the Chief Justice.
Did he party?
Taft’s dining habits are particularly exciting for us here in Georgia’s first city. Savannah’s own, and mother to Girl Scouts founder, Juliette Gordon Low, Nellie Kinzie Gordon kept a running tally of all the different delicacies that President Taft sampled while staying at her home in 1909. She wrote a letter to Juliette containing all the delicious details.
He started with a light lunch with soup, some rolls, a bit of meat, and salad and washed it down with four bottles of ginger ale while declining coffee or wine. He later dined at Savannah’s DeSoto Hotel at a massive banquet with a mouthwatering menu of local Georgia fare including Daufuskie oysters, Ogeechee River trout, Ossabaw venison, Diamondback terrapin from Isle of Hope, and what’s listed as “Oglethorpe Punch.” Anybody who’s sampled our local Chatham Artillery Punch knows EXACTLY how Savannah does its punches: strong.
Upon returning home to the Gordon mansion, today preserved as the Juliette Gordon Low Birthplace, President Taft “fell upon the fruit basket of delicious apples [Nellie] had left in the library, and then regaled himself with them and more ginger ale before he went to bed.” Nellie reported having difficulty in waking up her honored guest the next morning. Once awake, he enjoyed a large breakfast with coffee, telling Nellie he “did not mean to be hurried” through breakfast.
President Taft wrote to his wife: “The Gordons live beautifully in Savannah.”
Taft was known to enjoy alcohol in celebratory atmospheres and, as such, was partial to champagne and anything else offered at a party.