It appears the relaxed meeting held between President Obama, Sgt Crowley, and Professor Gates in the Rose Garden at the White House was a smashing success. Now the only burning question is was it the beer talking, or did the two Cambridge residents really resolve their differences and put their communication meltdown behind them for good?
If there is one ``teachable moment’’ from the media frenzy summit it’s that a tall cold glass of beer, poured in the proper quantity, of course, has been known to bring bitter rivals together to help them understand that more unites than divides them.
A few examples:
In March, 1943, FDR invited 117 members of the House and Senate to the White House for a friendly chat, ``purely social’’ was the way the president described it, which included their choice of beer (or soft drinks), along with an assortment of crackers, cigars, and cigarettes. The meeting was considered a success; or as Vice President Wallace told The New York Times, ``no one threw any bricks.’’
In June, 1939, FDR entertained King George VI at his Hyde Park cottage, where the king and queen of England consumed their first American hot dog, washing it down with a tall glass of beer served from the tap.
Even the headstrong 59th Congress in 1906 put aside party friction to throw a bash for the Republican Speaker of the House, Joseph Cannon on his 70th birthday. Pulling both sides of the aisle together was no small feat. The Republican leader, after all, ruled with a heavy hand, ran a tight ship on the floor of Congress, and often resorted to profanity while spitting tobacco to underscore a critical point. Still, Congress felt a beer summit, if you will, at the old Arlington Hotel in honor of ``Uncle Joe’’ who was pretty likeable after all, was well worth the effort.
Speaking of beer and of Washington politicians, Don Ritchie, associate historian at the US Senate Historical Office reminds me there was once a beer called ``Senate Beer’’ which has recently been revived by the Christian Heurich Brewing Co.
The German brewery, in fact, used to be located on a strip of land where the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts now stands. The brand ``Senate Beer’ was introduced around 1939, including `Senate Ale’’ and ``Senate Bock’’ but poor sales forced the brand to be renamed ``Old Georgetown’’ in 1947.
Beer as a source of reaching agreement and disposing of ill-will isn’t restricted to the White House or even the nation’s capital.
There once was a time, not all that long ago, when print journalists would often hold their own beer summits at their favorite watering holes to iron out differences with colleagues and editors, think things through, and leave the saloon if not with a clearer head, at least with a fresh perspective on the best way to handle a pesky problem.
One journalist who has a distinct recollection of patching up a disagreement over a glass of beer is William Schmidt, Deputy Managing Editor of The New York Times.
``Once upon a time, Schmidt wrote in an email, a lot of the knotty questions of the day were not resolved inside the office; more often, the litigants took their case to the bar down the street. I remember a senior editor at a suburban paper outside New York hauling me off to the ``Sky Lounge’’, a bar alongside the old airport in Deer Park, NY, to explain why it was important that I never again change the lead on my story after he told me he didn't want me to change the lead on my story. I can't say I agreed with him; my lead was ten times better than his. But he was the boss, he paid for the beers and the lesson didn't last all that long anyhow, because he was more anxious to get it on with the guys from the City Desk, who were already into a noisy round of Liar's Poker at the other end of the bar’’
Sadly, such beer summits between editors and their wayward reporters are growing fewer and fewer with each passing year as more newsroom staffs are downsized; the once popular newspaper taverns are nothing more than a dim memory in most major cities. Schmidt’s much beloved ``Sky Lounge’’ (including Vinnie the Bartender) is no more; ``Costello’s’’ and the ``Lion’s Head’’ in New York, ``The Headliner’’ in Cleveland, and the ``Press Club’’ in Detroit have all been put to bed. The famed ``Billy Goat Tavern’’ in Chicago, is one of the few newspaper bars still hanging around.
So as the president and vice president brought feuding parties together to talk things over this past week, it might be worth noting that under the right circumstances, and if you come to the table with a clear head and an open mind—you can still have your beer and drink it to.
-Bill Lucey
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