Some striking similarities Biden, Trump neither smoked, nor drank in life

LAHORE: Despite leading their respective lives in totally contrasting ways, the new American President Joe Biden and his fierce political adversary Donald Trump share a few common personality traits; as they neither drink, nor smoke.

According to the January 16, 2018 edition of a renowned American financial and business news website, “Business Insider”, it was clearly mentioned in the White House physician Dr Ronny Jackson’s report on former president Donald Trump that he was much healthier than he looked at least partly because he did not drink or smoke.

The media house had stated: “Trump has abstained from both (smoking and drinking) for a lifetime”.

On October 30, 2020, The New York Times had maintained: “For the first time in modern history, both major party candidates for the White House are teetotallers. President Trump and his Democratic opponent, Joseph Biden Jr, have not had an alcoholic drink over the course of their lives, by their own accounts. But it also goes to the way Biden and Trump, for all their stark differences, share some similarities in character and background, according to biographers and others who have observed them over the years. They each grew up in families shadowed by the spectre of alcoholism — Trump’s brother died from it, and one of Biden’s favourite uncles, whom he lived with growing up, was a heavy drinker”.

The prestigious newspaper had held: “Both have distanced themselves from the boozy social circuits in Washington and New York, Biden because he was commuting home to his family in Delaware every night and Trump because he tends to be more comfortable at home watching television”.

American presidents who were fond of drinking and smoking:

Peeking into the lifestyles of various former American presidents, The New York Times had more to reveal: “There have been presidents over the centuries who practiced abstinence — Rutherford Hayes, William Harrison and George W. Bush — as well as presidents who loved their cocktails, among them Richard Nixon, Lyndon Johnson and Martin Van Buren, or Blue Whiskey Van as he came to be known. Bush stopped on his 40th birthday because he decided he was drinking too much, though his father, George HW Bush, was known to enjoy a martini at day’s end.

Jimmy Carter kept hard liquor out of the White House, which added to his reputation as being strait-laced”.

Meanwhile, an archival research conducted by the “Jang and Geo TV” shows that the first-ever American President, George Washington’s distillery produced nearly 11,000 gallons in 1799, making it one of the largest whiskey distilleries in America. When it was completed in 1797, the distillery was the largest in America.

In fact, George Washington had blown his entire campaign budget on 160 gallons of liquor to serve to potential voters. Success greeted him!

America has had a few presidents who loved their cigars.

Ulysses Grant, the 18th president, had a close relationship with cigars. In pictures, he was often portrayed with his beloved cigar. Grant was reported to have smoked about 20 cigars a day. He had died of throat cancer.

Calvin Coolidge, president from 1923 to 1929, was often seen in public with his cigar.

He offered cigars to members of Congress when they joined him for discussions about proposed legislation.

Andrew Jackson and his wife, Rachel, were such regular users of tobacco that they installed brass spittoons in the White House. It was reported that Mrs Jackson would smoke two cigars a night while seated in her rocking chair before a warm fire.

Zachary Taylor smoked cigars but only in the presence of fellow male smokers. William Taft, the 27th president, had entered the White House as a cigar smoker but quit while in office.

Warren Harding, the 29th president, brought his cigar humidor from his Ohio home to the White House.

Herbert Hoover was reported to be an incessant cigar smoker while tackling the pressures of the Great Depression.

Chester Arthur, the 21st president used to enjoy lavish suppers, concluding with champagne and expensive imported cigars.

Benjamin Harrison, president from 1889 to 1993, was a moderate cigar smoker, but he made complimentary cigars available in the White House for guests.

William McKinley, the 25th president was never seen smoking in public, but in private, he obsessively smoked his beloved imported Garcias.

John F. Kennedy was the most famous cigar smoker among modern American presidents.

He smoked even when he was a young man. He had reportedly asked his press secretary once to procure 1,000 Cuban cigars before he signed the embargo against Cuban tobacco products.