Wet Vs. Dry Leaders
Ron Hart notes in a recent column about Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama:
It was revealed by [Al] Gore only recently that Bill Clinton does not drink. This is troubling to me as it means he was stone sober when he hit on Paula Jones.
So in summary, here are the leaders who do not drink: Saddam Hussein, Osama bin Laden, all al-Qaida leaders, Hitler, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Richard Nixon and Jimmy Carter.
By contrast, here are leaders known to drink: Winston Churchill, Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin, Ronald Reagan, Dwight Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Jeb Bush and Jesus.
There's at least a few of things wrong with the above (and that's not including the vague implication that if Clinton had been soused, he might have deserved a pass on the Paula Jones incident): Nixon famously boozed it up during his tough times in the White House (though in his defense, wouldn't you need to be drunk before talking to Brit PM Edward Heath?). And, when it comes to political leadership, it's not clear that Man from Galilee had more control over his apostles than, say, another J.C. had over Hamilton Jordan. And if Clinton didn't get his gin-blossoming, W.C. Fieldsesque schnozz from gin, where they hell is it coming from? But the main point is well-taken nonetheless; we all want a leader who can relax with an occasional beer. Or in the case of Winston Churchill, the continuous "Papa Cocktail."
