105 years ago Tuesday the Constitution’s 18th Amendment was ratified, making Prohibition the law of the land. Alcohol’s role in our society has also made it part of presidential history − as a staple of White House life and entertainment, as a tool in shaping political images, as the subject of a momentous national experiment and as a source of personal struggle for many Americans, including several presidents.

Distilled and fermented spirits have been a feature of our national life since Colonial times, when people consumed more than twice as much as we do today. Farmers took beer or whiskey into their fields, ale was part of supper and many workplaces offered a swig as a mid-morning break. Military rations could include alcohol, likely safer than drinking water that might be contaminated.

When George Washington ran for the Colonial-era Virginia House of Burgesses, he partook in the 18th century custom of supplying voters with drinks − racking up a bill for more than 100 gallons of beer, wine, brandy, cider and punch. Later he distilled beer and whiskey at his Mount Vernon estate.

Thomas Jefferson began the tradition of lavish White House dinner parties with many courses of food and wine. Jefferson spent more than $80,000 a year in today’s dollars as he built a collection exceeding 20,000 bottles. He also worked to reduce import tariffs on European wine and grew grapes at Monticello.

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When the British burned the White House during the War of 1812, its brick wine cellar survived − though “a great quantity” of its wine was consumed by American troops, according to the White House Historical Association’s recent book "Wine and the White House."

Alcohol became a symbol of lifestyle and social class − and a political weapon.

In 1840,........

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