Now & Then

Alcohol in American Politics

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Following the news of Rudy Giuliani’s inebriated advice to Donald Trump on election night, Heather and Joanne dive into the historical role of alcohol in American politics. How have the norms around alcohol shifted — and how has that impacted our history?

Heather and Joanne cover Franklin Pierce’s alcoholism, Warren Harding’s Prohibition-era hypocrisy, and the 1970s reckonings over alcohol in Congress. 

Join CAFE Insider to listen to “Backstage,” where Heather and Joanne chat each week about the anecdotes and ideas that formed the episode. Head to: cafe.com/history

For more historical analysis of current events, sign up for the free weekly CAFE Brief newsletter, featuring Time Machine, a weekly article that dives into an historical event inspired by each episode of Now & Then: cafe.com/brief

Executive Producer: Tamara Sepper; Editorial Producer: David Kurlander; Audio Producer: Matthew Billy; Theme Music: Nat Weiner; CAFE Team: Adam Waller, David Tatasciore, Sam Ozer-Staton, Noa Azulai, and Jake Kaplan. Now & Then is presented by CAFE and the Vox Media Podcast Network.

REFERENCES & SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIALS 

  • Dana Milbank, “Rudy Giuliani, drunk on conspiracy theories,” The Washington Post, 6/13/2022
  • Trish Bendix, “Late Night Blames It on the Alcohol,” New York Times, 6/14/2022
  • Cameron Joseph, “Trump’s Top Advisers Say Drunk Giuliani Urged Him to Declare Victory,” VICE, 6/13/2022

    • FRANKLIN PIERCE

    • Katherine Winton Evans, “Rebellious Spirits: Hard Liquor in Early America,” The Washington Post, 12/30/1979
    • Jacob Appel, “The Derailment of Franklin Pierce,” Hektoen International, 3/26/2021
    • Cromwell Whipple, “Mr. Whipple's address to the sober, moral and temperate men, of all parties!” Brown University, 10/22/1852
    • J. Childs, “Social Qualities of Our Candidate,” Library of Congress, 1852
    • “Franklin Pierce’s murky legacy as President,” National Constitution Center, 10/8/2021
    • “The Triumph and Tragedy of Franklin Pierce,” New England Historical Society, 2021
    • “President Franklin Pierce Warmly Endorses the Kansas-Nebraska Act as ‘Demonstrably Right and Patriotic,’” Shapell, 3/9/1854

      • WARREN HARDING

      • Warren Harding, “Address in Denver Colorado,” UCSB Presidency Project, 6/25/1923
      • Myra MacPherson, “'Princess' Alice Roosevelt Longworth,” The Washington Post, 2/21/1980
      • Alice Roosevelt Longworth, Crowded Hours, Archive.org, 1933
      • Aaron Killian, “Warren G. Harding: A Scandalous Presidency,” Historic America, 4/27/2021

        • THE RECKONING

        • Mark Kelly, “Ted Kennedy on the Rocks,” GQ, February 1st, 1991
        • Josh Sandburn, ““The Kennedy Machine Buried What Really Happened”: Revisiting Chappaquiddick, 50 Years Later,” Vanity Fair, 7/17/2019
        • Wayne King, “Wilbur Mills Offers Sober Testimony to an Alcoholic Past,” New York Times, 12/4/1978
        • Stephen Green and Margot Hornblower, “Mills Admits Being Present During Tidal Basin Scuffle,” The Washington Post, 10/11/1974
        • Julian Zelizer, “The sex scandal that reshaped Congress — and the warnings for today,” The Washington Post, 3/1/2021
        • Hugh Sidey, “In Defense of the Martini,” TIME, 10/24/1977
        • “Betty Ford Says That She Is Addicted to Alcohol,” The Washington Post, April 22nd, 1978
        • “Betty Ford on Admitting She was an Alcoholic,” ABC News, 1987
        • Elaine Sciolino, “Washington at Work; A Year After Rejection in Senate, Tower Replays Loss of Coveted Job,” New York Times, 4/5/1990
        • Jamie Dupree, “Flashbacks to John Tower as Senators review Kavanaugh FBI file,” Atlanta Journal Constitution, 10/3/2018


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