We tend to think of the Presidency as a job that requires a sober head. President while President – both men are famously teetotalers. However, America's first leader had a very different relationship with booze.
Historical records note that George Washington and his colleagues drank an astonishing amount of wine daily. While Washington was known to drink rum and beer and ran his own whiskey distillery in the later years of his life, he'd most commonly be found drinking a Portuguese wine called Madeira. Correspondence from Washington's life reveals a habit of ordering pipes of the wine as far back as 1759.
(A pipe is a giant cask of wine, which can contain the equivalent of 700 bottles.) Wine historians note that Washington was known to have a pint of Madeira with his dinner every day. Election day in Washington's time could be influenced by how much booze the candidate served, so savvy politicians knew their way around liquor.
Madeira was especially popular among the Founding Fathers, often being copiously poured at their gatherings. One notorious bar tab from September 1787 shows that Washington and company indulged big time at City Tavern in Philadelphia. Among other liquor, Washington's party ordered a whopping 54 bottles of Madeira as they celebrated the close of the Constitutional Convention.
Today, the keepers of Washington's legacy honor his relationship with Madeira with a biannual wine festival at his former home, Mount Vernon. Washington's wine drinking led to a .
