George H.W. Bush’s Martini Versus Harry Truman’s Old Fashioned: What Is The Best Presidential Cocktail In White House History?

While President Donald Trump is a lifelong teetotaler, someone who completely abstains from drinking alcohol, the same cannot be said for the majority of U.S. Presidents throughout history as only around 25% of American Presidents avoided drinking. The other 75% vary widely in their fondness for alcohol and predilection for particular spirits but today we are taking a look at President’s George H.W. Bush and Harry Truman, their iconic presidential cocktails, and which is better.

President George H.W. Bush was a martini man. A classic vodka martini. On the other side of the spectrum we have President Harry Truman who appreciated a fine Old Fashioned cocktail and despised how the White House staff made them following his inauguration and slowly but surely had them tailor their recipe to his wants and needs.

Which is the better overall Presidential cocktail is a matter of interpretation, of course, and personal preference. But here we take a look at Bennett Rea at Cookin’ With Congress who makes both cocktails exactly how the two U.S. Presidents would have enjoyed them and we get to decide which is the better of the two Presidential cocktails.

What Is The Best Presidential Cocktail In White House History?

President Harry S. Truman was the 33rd President of the United States of America and served in the White House from 1945 to 1953. He was famously FDR’s Vice President and assumed the Presidency following Franklin D. Roosevelt’s passing.

Born in Lamar, Missouri, a rural town with a population of just 4,266 residents as of the 2020 census, Truman was a bourbon man. And when he got to the White House his drink of choice was the Old Fashioned.

At its core, the Old Fashioned is an incredibly simple cocktail to construct. It consists of Bourbon (or Rye Whiskey), Bitters, a Sugar Cube, and an Orange Peel garnish. Anything beyond that is open to interpretation.

President Truman had family from Kentucky on both his mother and father’s side. Suffice it to say, he was a Bourbon drinker. He would drink it three ways: (1) a morning shot, (2) mixed with club soda or ginger ale, and (3) in an Old Fashioned. His Bourbon of choice was either Wild Turkey or Old Granddad, both of which are still found on shelves all across the country.

Prior to Truman’s Presidency, FDR’s staff made the White House Old Fashioned with cherries and orange slices muddled into the drink and not served as garnishes. That did not sit well with President Truman and he slowly changed the ways to produce his version of the Old Fashioned as the Presidential Cocktail of the era. Here is Bennett Rea of Cookin’ With Congress making an Old Fashioned just as President Harry Truman would have drank it:

Pretty, pretty tasty. But is it the best Presidential Cocktail of all-time?

George H.W. Bush’s Vodka Martini Recipe

President George H.W. Bush was a traditionalist when it came to his Presidential cocktail. His recipe was 2.5oz vodka, 0.5oz dry vermouth, a chilled glass, ice in the strainer, stirred and not shaken (the opposite of James Bond), and served with a single green olive as a garnish. The specific variety of olive is not specified.

My Mt. Rushmore of Cocktails are as follows: Dirty Vodka Martini, Manhattan, Old Fashioned, and the Boulevardier. So these two Presidential cocktails account for 50% of my all-time favorites and honestly, I’m not sure I prefer one ove the other in any meaningful way because they both have a time and a place in my life, but I digress.

Every night at 6pm, President George H.W. Bush would sit down with First Lady Barbara Bush for cocktail hour. This was primarily after his time in the White House. During his Presidential era, the elder George Bush would drink 10+ cups of coffee daily and only drink alcohol on occasion but after the White House he slipped back into the martini routine. Here is Bennett breaking down President George H.W. Bush’s vodka martini recipe exactly as Bush would have made it and drank it himself.

The chilling of the glass is a crucial step. I prefer ‘shaken not stirred’ because the minuscule ice chips in the drink are crucial for optimal taste. To order it that way you ask the bartender to ‘make it skate’ in case you were wondering. But again, I digress because that’s not the preferred style of President Bush. He was a martini traditionalist.

And the winner is…

Based on flavor alone, the winner of the best Presidential Cocktail in White House history has to be the Old Fashioned. But we aren’t judging strictly based on flavor.

A martini is classy. Merely holding the long-stemmed glass requires a delicate touch to avoid spillage. It is an ideal cocktail for a stately reception where as the Old Fashioned is perfect for garden parties on the terrace. I think the point I’m getting to here is that this is truly a matter of individual preference and if you prefer one over the other you’re not right or wrong, it just speaks to your flavor profile.

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With that said, which would you order? Hit me with your thoughts down below in the comments.