Why Abraham Lincoln Didn't Like To Drink Alcohol

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American presidents are some of the most famous men in the world throughout history, and aside from their foreign and domestic policies, and sometimes eccentric personality traits, we love knowing about what they enjoyed eating and drinking. For example, Teddy Roosevelt drank enough coffee each day to practically buzz like a bee, and William Howard Taft ate a big portion of red meat with his breakfast every morning. And while Prohibition kept alcoholic beverages out of everyday people's homes, Warren G. Harding kept the whiskey flowing in the White House. One president who wasn't so fond of alcohol? The sixteenth, Abraham Lincoln, who is quoted in "The Presidents' Cookbook" by Poppy Cannon and Patricia Brooks as saying, "I am entitled to little credit for not drinking because I hate the stuff. It is unpleasant and always leaves me flabby, undone."

Apparently, Lincoln was not a fan of the hangovers that ensued after imbibing, so he drank as little alcohol as possible, even accepting a beverage for form's sake, but doing little more than holding onto the glass. Which isn't to say that he didn't drink at all (he was not a teetotaler in any sense of the word); Lincoln was seen to sparingly — and gamely — drink alcohol at social events so as not to wreck the vibe of the party, making him a true man of, by, and for the people, and he wasn't above taking a drink "when he thought it would do him good" (via The Atlantic). It's just terribly likely he'd regret it the next day.

As we've seen, while he didn't like the stuff, nor the way it made him feel after drinking it, Abraham Lincoln did not abstain completely from drinking alcohol (though he very likely would have just rather not). And unlike the temperance movement, which mostly found overindulging to be a moral failing, our sixteenth president never looked at it this way. He took a more moderate approach, never judging his peers for their indulgence, and recognizing that alcoholism was best dealt with through community and understanding.

Considering his background, Lincoln could have easily taken a much more severe approach. It seems that all his life, from the time he was a small child, he was in contact with drinkers — oftentimes, heavy drinkers. His father actually worked at a distillery, called Boone distillery, and as a kid, Lincoln would bring him his lunch or dinner to the worksite, so he was exposed to liquor early on.

Then there's also the fact that, as a young adult, Lincoln was known to have owned a store with a bar attached, sharing ownership with a friend; there is some dispute among historians about whether our sixteenth president ever actually poured a dram in it or not. Whether or not whiskey and other liquors were definitely sold on the premises, and Lincoln was not heard to complain about the fact, so even if he did serve drinks "over the counter," so long as he wasn't the one ingesting them, our erstwhile president likely had few qualms (per The Atlantic).