The Boozy Campaign That Won Washington an Election

Claim A says Washington handed out 160 gallons of booze to win. Claim B says Washington won his 1758 race by giving voters free tobacco. Claim A is true, and Claim B is completely made up.

George Washington's path to the Virginia House of Burgesses ran straight through the punch bowl. In 1758 he ran in Frederick County, and his campaign handed out 160 gallons of alcoholic drinks to 391 voters, free of charge.

The menu was substantial: 28 gallons of rum and 50 gallons of rum punch, with the rest made up of wine, beer, and cider. That works out to well over a drink per voter, and then some.

Washington had a good reason to be generous. In 1755 he ran for the same kind of seat and got only 40 of 581 votes. A later speech blamed the defeat on his failure to provide "bumbo," the era's word for rum drinks.

He learned the lesson, though he never saw the party. Still serving as a militia colonel, he skipped the polls entirely and sent a friend to run the show on his behalf.

Tobacco had nothing to do with it. The campaign's giveaway was alcohol, and no free tobacco was part of the winning strategy.

Think you'd have voted for the man behind the rum? Share this with a friend and see if they would have guessed it.