White House Drinks: Roosevelt's Martini, Truman's Old Fashioned and Kennedy's Daiquiri

Franklin D. Roosevelt held informal evening gatherings in the White House that he himself called the Children's Hour. According to his presidential library, it was usually the President himself who mixed and served the drinks.

His martini started out simple, three or four parts gin to one part dry vermouth, but he liked to experiment and sometimes added a splash of olive brine. At the Tehran Conference in 1943 he offered Stalin a martini. Stalin is said to have found it cold on the stomach, but toasted anyway.

Harry and Bess Truman liked bourbon. The story often told is that White House butler Alonzo Fields made their Old Fashioned by the book, with sugar, bitters and orange, and was told it was too sweet. The next attempt was said to taste like fruit punch. In the end he just poured bourbon over ice, and Mrs Truman was satisfied.

Historian David McCullough told the story, and its core recurs in several sources. The dialogue should still be taken with a pinch of salt, as it has been retold several times over. Anyone wanting to drink like the Trumans can skip most of the recipe.

John F. Kennedy is associated with the daiquiri, and several sources say he celebrated his 1960 election win with one. A recipe said to have hung in the White House kitchen circulates online: rum, frozen limeade, fresh lime juice and a few drops of falernum.

Nobody has been able to show an original of that recipe, so treat it as a likely home version rather than a document. The classic daiquiri of rum, lime and sugar is, either way, the drink he is linked to.

Roosevelt's martini: stir 60 ml gin with 15 to 20 ml dry vermouth and plenty of ice, strain into a chilled glass. To do it his way, add a teaspoon of olive brine.

Truman's Old Fashioned: pour bourbon over a large ice cube. That is all. For the classic, see our Old Fashioned recipe.

Kennedy's daiquiri: shake white rum, lime juice and simple syrup hard with ice and strain. A few drops of falernum add the spiced note the kitchen recipe is said to have had.