He was elected at the nadir of the worst depression in history; 25% of the workforce was unemployed, two million were homeless. Yet in the face of this, he made us an optimistic and far-reaching New Deal, creating among other programs a federal minimum wage, social security, and the FDIC. He pulled us out of dire financial straits and, when our country was called upon to fight in World War II, he brought us to the cusp of victory. In his unprecedented thirteen years in office, he cemented his undisputed legacy as one of the greatest presidents in American history. But before he could achieve any of this, Franklin Delano Roosevelt had a promise to keep — a promise to the "wet vote," whose indispensable support he had
called upon in 1932 during his first presidential campaign when he promised to repeal the
18th Amendment and end
Prohibition. And thus, as legend has it, immediately after his
first fireside chat from the White House in March 1933, Roosevelt turned to his two top aides and said, "
I think it's time for a beer." And
yes, indeed,
it was.
Of course, legalizing beer was only the beginning. As Roosevelt was a man of his word,
it quickly came to pass that
on this very date, December 5th, in 1933, Congress
ratified the 21st Amendment to the Constitution, ended Prohibition, and our patron saint FDR made the toast heard 'round the world: "What America needs now," he said, "
is a drink."
Today, on the 77th anniversary of that momentous event, let us all
raise a glass to that wise and forward-looking man, whose decision ultimately did more than just create 500,000 new jobs: "
You saved the very foundation of our Government. No man can tell where we would have gone, or to what we would have fallen, had not this repeal been brought about."
In 1933, we celebrated by raising a glass of
Miller High Life,
Stag,
Pabst Blue Ribbon [
Previously],
Hamms [
2] [
3],
National Bohemian,
Old Falstaff,
Schmidt's,
Blatz, or
Budweiser.
Of course, today we have a cornucopia of choices, in both our selection of booze and our enjoyment of its oft-sublime advertisements. Please enjoy these carefully selected and hand-distilled ads for
Johnnie Walker [
2] [
3],
Jameson,
Bushmills,
Glenfiddich,
Jim Beam,
Wild Turkey,
Bailey's [
2],
Absolut [
2] [
3],
Smirnoff [
2],
Stolichnaya [
2], or, if you'd like, you can stick to beer with
Guinness [
2] [
3] [
4],
Red Stripe,
Carlton Draught, or
Stella Artois [
2].
Cheers and happy repeal day to you, in loving memory of
Franklin Delano motherfucking Roosevelt. Please imbibe
responsibly.
posted by Ghidorah at 2:26 AM on December 5, 2009