Looking
properly presidential except for his foamy mug of beer Franklin Delano
Roosevelt poses against the red and white stripes of the American flag. The illustration by Miguel Covarrubias
appeared on the September 1932 cover of Vanity
Fair magazine.
Was it publisher Conde Nast’s
salute to endorsing the repeal of prohibition? Oddly, there was not a story
inside the edition to go with the cover image.
Prohibition began 100 years ago
this week. The booze ban wasn’t well
thoughtout. Many believe the repeal cost
the nation’s treasury tax revenue enormously and aided in causing the Great
Depression.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt
had campaigned for repeal, suggesting that reintroducing alcohol was a way to
raise taxes during a time of economic hardship.
By a landslide, he was elected on November 8, 1932.
Thus, the Vanity Fair cover—as
news--was a nod to Roosevelt’s anti-prohibition stance and a not-so-veiled
endorsement of his presidential aspirations.
Prohibition officially ended on
December 5, 1933 following the ratification of the 21st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
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