Lincoln on the Rocks

Before he was freeing slaves or delivering the Gettysburg Address, Abraham Lincoln was pouring whiskey (maybe) in a small-town saloon. In this episode of The American Presidency: Unfiltered, host Brad Pitzl dives into one of Honest Abe’s most surprising ventures, co-owning a failing bar called Berry and Lincoln in 1830s New Salem, Illinois. With a drunken business partner, unpaid debts, and a clientele more interested in brawling than buying, Lincoln’s shot at being a booze mogul was short-lived, but it’s a chapter of his life that tells us a lot about his humble, rough-and-tumble rise to greatness.

“Lincoln on the Rocks” uncovers how the future president became the only commander-in-chief to hold a liquor license and how this brief foray into frontier entrepreneurship shaped his image — for better and worse. Was he a teetotaler, a bartender, or something in between?