Founding Fathers Favorite Foods

There is no doubt you’ve seen pictures or video of Joe Biden eating ice cream.

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You probably remember that Ronald Regan loved jellybeans. And Donald Trump’s love for McDonald’s and fast food has been widely documented.  His usual order includes two Big Macs, two Filet-O-Fish sandwiches, and a chocolate milkshake. This habit even extended to his 2016 election-night celebration, where McDonald’s was served.

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Presidents have a staff on hand to cater to their every edible whim. A public statement on food can have an economic impact. When George HW Bush expressed a taste for pork rinds, sales jumped 11%.

A snack in the Oval Office has even been used as a tool to judge the character of a president and the company he keeps. Ronald Reagan said, “You can tell a lot about a fella’s character by whether he picks out all of one color or just grabs a handful.”

Food served among the DC elite has evolved over the years from the founding fathers to Biden’s penchant for ice cream…but that ice cream…it’s been a favorite for a while.

What did the founding fathers favor?

1. George Washington: Hoecakes

The first president loved hoecakes topped with honey, an early version of an American breakfast classic that originated as a Native American recipe.  They are very much like an early version of pancakes. 

2. John Adams: Hard Cider

Adams picked up the habit of drinking a morning “gill” of hard cider while attending Harvard and later wrote that he would “… never forget how refreshing and salubrious” he found the beverage in college.

3. Thomas Jefferson: Mac & Cheese

Known as the Founding Foodie, Jefferson discovered macaroni during his European travels and is credited with popularizing the food in the US after he brought a machine for making the pasta back from Naples, Italy. 

4. James Madison: Ice Cream

While it’s hard to pin down one favorite food for Madison, first lady Dolley Madison popularized the frozen treat during her time in the White House and the president was one of its top consumers. 

5. Benjamin Franklin: Turkey

Franklin preferred snacking on apples and cranberries, and his all-time favorite food was turkey. In fact, he loved turkey so much that he suggested it should be our national symbol.

6. Alexander Hamilton: Ice Cream

Although not much of a foodie, young Hamilton ate salted codfish and pork, apples, butter and flour.  However, he was introduced to other foods, like ice cream, at a dinner with George and Martha Washington. Hamilton’s wife, Eliza, was of Dutch descent, so there was most likely a Dutch influence at the table.

7. John Jay: Chocolate or Hot Chocolate

John Jay, in a letter sent to his father in 1790, reported that he carried chocolate with him on long journeys, likely “shaving or grating it into pots of milk”. I love this for him. 

8. Abraham Lincoln: Bacon

While he’s not a founding father, we should give honorable mention to the fact that Lincoln loved bacon! Lincoln also cited gingerbread cookies among one of his closely held favorites but was a reliably hearty eater of bacon.