George Washington Won His First Election Because He Gave Out Alcohol

In 1758 – when campaigning for the Virginia House of Burgess (the first assembly of elected representatives of English colonists in North America) – George Washington enlisted the aid of a barrel of Barbadian rum from which complimentary serves were scooped out to prospective voters. The future President went on to win the election despite complaining that his campaign manager did not spend enough money on alcohol.

Washington biographer Dennis Pogue, vice president of preservation at Washington’s home of Mount Vernon, reveals that the father of the nation lost his first campaign in 1755 to the House of Burgesses mainly because he didn’t put on an alcohol-laden circus at the polls. That year, Washington got 40 votes. The winner, who plied voters with beer, whiskey, rum punch, and wine, got 271 votes.

A quick learner, Washington won three years later with the help of alcohol. With 47 gallons of beer, 35 gallons of wine, 2 gallons of cider, 3 1/2 pints of brandy, and a whopping 70 gallons of rum punch. He carried the election with 310 votes. “What do you know, he was successful and got 331 votes,”

Stay tuned for the victory celebration by Terebelo in New York!