It is no great secret that Washington had its fair share of bootleggers and
drinking. As in other cities, drinking was becoming the newest "craze"
among middle-class youths. The public also accused congressmen and other
government officials of violating prohibition laws. While Washington did
not compare in violence to Chicago or New York, many expected the capital to
become the nation's model city. This fell on the shoulders of
President Herbert Hoover in 1929 more
than any other president.
Of all the Presidents to serve under Prohibition, Warren Harding was the most known for violating this law within the confines of his home–the White House. President and Mrs. Harding did not serve alcohol at dinners or in the “ordinary rooms of the White House.” Their private quarters were another matter. Harding was known for raucous poker games where “liquor was plentifully supplied,” as was the tobacco. Mrs. Harding served the drinks and the Secret Service “dismissed [the parties] as harmless, like the activities of small-town Elks Clubs.”[1] Even though “Harding had stomach problems...he seldom took more than a couple of drinks, but for ‘the boys,’ drinking was a way of life.”[2]
[1] William Seale, The President’s House: A History (Washington, D.C.: White House Historical Association, 1986), Vol. II, 839, 842.
[2] John Whitcomb and Claire Whitcomb, Real Life at the White House: Two Hundred Years of Daily Life at America’s Most Famous Residence (New York: Routledge, 2000), 268.
This page was last updated 14 December 2003