Republican President Donald Trump doesn’t drink alcohol, and that’s decidedly in his favor.
“How so?” you may ask, citing the fact that our two greatest presidents, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, drank, as did most of our Presidents.
Yes. They drank responsibly and could take it or leave it but Presidents Richard Nixon (a Republican) and Lyndon B. Johnson (a Democrat) were probably alcoholics.
Nixon’s maudlin and self serving remarks over the ill-conceived and clumsy Watergate break-in scandal which forced his resignation, were fully on display on August 9, 1974 when he broke down in tears before his departure in a waiting helicopter.
“I have never been a quitter,” Nixon said through tears. “To leave office before my term is completed is abhorrent to every instinct in my body. But as President, I must put the interest of America first. America needs a full-time President and a full-time Congress, particularly at this time with problems we face at home and abroad.
“To continue to fight through the months ahead for my personal vindication would almost totally absorb the time and attention of both the President and the Congress in a period when our entire focus should be on the great issues of peace abroad and prosperity without inflation at home.
“Therefore, I shall resign the Presidency effective at noon tomorrow. Vice President Ford will be sworn in as President at that hour in this office.”
Lyndon Johnson, many will recall, was President John F. Kennedy’s Vice President and when Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, Johnson succeeded him, won reelection in 1964 and after escalating the unpopular war in Vietnam with enormous casualties, he fell completely out of favor.
The list of reportedly heavy drinkers also included William Harrison, Zachary Taylor, Millard Fillmore, Rutherford B. Hayes and William Taft. As for the abstainers, the list includes: Franklin Pierce, James Buchanan, Ulysses S. Grant, Chester Arthur and Grover Cleveland.
Former President, Bill Clinton, has admitted to smoking marijuana but has always claimed he didn’t inhale.
President Trump has spoken about his late brother’s struggle with alcoholism.
“Fred was a great guy, a handsome person,” Trump said. “He was the life of the party. He was a fantastic guy, but he got stuck on alcohol. And it had a profound impact and ultimately he became an alcoholic and died of alcoholism. He understood the problem that he had and that it was a very hard problem.”
President Trump has held his views on alcohol for many years. In 1999 when he was considering running for President, he had an interview with Larry King on CNN and said, “Why is it that everybody is suing the tobacco companies and nobody sues the alcohol companies? I mean, you have the car crashes and the kids that get killed by some drunk.”
Going back to the unfortunate death of Fred Jr., Mr. Trump told People Magazine that Fred had a ‘profound impact’ on his life. Mr. Trump also added that he has “known so many people that were so strong and so powerful [yet] they were unable to stop drinking.”
In a recent article, President gave a speech at Urbandale High School in Des Moines, Iowa during their homecoming event and told them, “If you can stay away from the alcohol and stay away from the drugs, it’s a big, big barrier that you won’t have to work out.”
There are estimates that 91 Americans die everyday from opioide addiction and for every death, more than 30 others are admitted to the emergency room.
President Trump’s proposed federal budget includes an increase of $500 million over 2016 spending levels on prevention and drug treatment efforts in communities.
White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer has also stressed a bipartisan solution to the opioide addiction during a recent press briefing: “Stopping this epidemic is an issue that every American regardless of your political background can and must get behind.”
He added that Mr. Trump’s efforts to fight the opioide epidemic are of the “highest priority” for the administration.
On Wednesday, President Trump announced that New Jersey governor Chris Christie would lead a commission to tackle the spread of the drug.
We will be talking to Governor Christie’s office about our local community based “One Day at a Time program.”
This year we are expanding our information-focused efforts and beginning to add a treatment component to be administered by a Little Rock “community roundtable.”
Members of the roundtable will include doctors and those who have experience with recovery programs, and it will be faith based, entrepreneurial and collaborative in outlook. Its product will be healed addicts, those who no longer use alcohol or other drugs.
We will continue to expand our efforts to provide information needed by those seeking recovery for themselves and others. As for treatment, Little Rock has the hospitals, detox facilities, twelve step meetings, evangelical churches, transition housing and other resources needed. As funds permit we will begin to recruit persons representing these resources to serve on the Roundtable.”
Large, national programs have not been successful in the war on drugs. Going local has far more potential and is far less expensive.
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