Smoking

The first steps to ban smoking in the White House happened under Bill and Hillary Clinton in 1993, when they removed ashtrays from tables and banned smoking during dinnertime.

But, again, that was just the first step. Four years later, Bill Clinton made an executive order that banned smoking in all federal government buildings at all times. In terms of healthcare, this was definitely a step in the right direction, and while some argue that the changes could have and should have been made sooner, we like to think that it’s better late than never.

Alcohol

Many presidents and First ladies tried to limit the intake of alcohol in the White House. For example, Rutherford B. Hayes was known to be a real buzz kill, and it is widely believed he used the alcohol ban to win over the Republican Party’s temperance advocates. His wife was known as “Lemonade Lucy” for banning all hard drinks from the White House between 1877 and 1881.

Eleanor Roosevelt allowed wine in the White House but not hard liquor, and Jimmy Carter also kept the White House dry while he was in office. Famously, he only toasted with a tiny glass of wine during a Soviet arms summit. Clearly, presidents didn’t really need the help of the Prohibition to ban alcohol!

And there you have it! Which one of these did you find most surprising? If you became president, what’s the first thing you’d ban from the White House?