So with the Presidential Inauguration tomorrow and everyone’s eyes on Washington, it may be easy to think about all the things that could go the wrong during the highly-watched ceremony. One of the worst Inauguration moments in American history occurred in 1865 when Abraham Lincoln’s Vice President Andrew Johnson appeared to be quite drunk during his speech. Yep, this really happened. It was bad enough that bad weather forced the ceremony into the halls of the Senate, here is the new VP all sauced up.
Johnson who would go on to assume the role of President after Lincoln’s assassination, was sick from the night before, and according to LifeScience he drank whiskey to get through his Inauguration Day duties. So by the time, Johnson got up to speak he was still boozed up. Johnson bragged while speaking about his tough times as a youth and his victories over the Confederate forces. it reportedly got so bad, former Vice President Hannibal Hamln tugged at the back of Johnson’s coat to get him to stop, but it didn’t work.
“The inauguration went off very well except that the Vice President Elect was too drunk to perform his duties & disgraced himself & the Senate by making a drunken foolish speech.” said Senator Zachariah Chandler.
So yeah, that must have been awkward….It’s like that bad Best Man speech at a Wedding you sat through but on a national scale.
