Breakfast routines of former U.S. presidents, as reported by journalists Kat Kinsman and Linda Brandt, are revealing some rather peculiar morning rituals, and we’ve put together yet another chapter in this story.
Former president Ulysses S. Grant, a native of Point Pleasant, Ohio, was in office from 1869-77. His normal breakfast was a cup of coffee and “a cucumber soaked in vinegar overnight.”
The
first president, of course, was George Washington of Popes Creek, Va., who
served from 1789-97. One historian commented that First Lady Martha Washington
“made tea and coffee; on the table there were two small plates of sliced beef
tongues and dry toast, bread and butter…but no broiled fish, as was generally
the custom.”
Washington also loved his hoecakes, “swimming in buttter and honey.”
John
Adams of Braintree, Mass., the second U.S. president, served from 1797-1801. He
was known to complement his breakfast meal with a “gill of hard cider” – purely
for medicinal purposes. (A gill is four ounces.)
Adams jotted in his diary: “It seems to do me good, by diluting and dissolving the phlegm or the bile in the stomach. I continue my practice of drinking a gill of cider in the morning and find no ill but some good effect.”
About a century and a half later, it was revealed that former president Harry Truman of Lamar, Mo., had a splash of bourbon in the morning. During Truman’s White Years, 1945-53, he would take a daily morning shot followed by an orange juice chaser. His preferred brands were said to be Old Grand Dad and Wild Turkey.
He
said the consumption of alcohol was deemed beneficial to the circulation of men
past age 60 in order “to get the engine going.” It seemed to agree with him, a
physician friend acknowledged. Truman would take a brisk, two-mile walk and
then return to eat a “normal breakfast” before getting down to business.
Theodore Roosevelt, who hailed from New York City, was the nation’s president from 1901-09. He had some interesting breakfast tastes. Meals often included bacon and beef liver along with hard-boiled eggs and fat rascals. (A fat rascal is a type of cake that originated in Yorkshire, England, and is similar to a scone or rock cake.)
Martin
Van Buren of Kinderhook, N.Y., who served as president from 1837-41, was
especially fond of olykoek or olie koeken (Dutch doughnuts), which were
literally “oil cakes,” made of flour, eggs, apple, milk and yeast. As the dough
would rise to a certain point, the olie koeken was deposited into a pot of oil
to cook.
Richard
Nixon of Yorba Linda, Calif., who was president from 1969-74, typically enjoyed
yogurt, orange juice, half a grapefruit, cold cereal with skim milk and coffee.
His breakfast special treat, however, was cottage cheese covered with ketchup.
The
usual breakfast for Jimmy Carter of Plains, Ga., who was president from
1977-81, was coffee, fresh-squeezed orange juice, fruit and buttered toast.
Occasionally, eggs or cereal would take the place of his regular fare. Sunday
breakfasts tended to be more indulgent with country-style ham and red-eye
gravy, scrambled eggs, cornbread, hot fried apples and mounds of buttery grits.
Former
president George Bush was born in New Haven, Conn., but grew up in Midland,
Texas. As president from 2001-09, his favorite Sunday breakfast was huevos
rancheros, a Tex-Mex classic, made of tortillas, sharp cheddar cheese, eggs, salsa,
tomato and sour cream.
When
Calvin Coolidge of Plymouth Notch, Vt., occupied the White House from 1923-29,
he instructed the kitchen staff to prepare “full-griddle-sized” pancakes, not
dainty ones.
When his term was up, Coolidge packed up “all the partially used jars of preserves in the White House kitchen and took them with him, unwilling to waste even a bit”…and leaving the cupboard bare for his successor Herbert Hoover.
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