The 2020 presidential election is historic in yet another way: Both President Donald Trump and Democrat presidential nominee Joe Biden are teetotalers who have not had an alcoholic drink throughout their lives.
The New York Times points out that this is the first time in modern history that neither candidate for the White House from the major parties drinks.
This could have something to do with the candidates' family backgrounds, biographers and other observers say. Trump's brother, Fred Trump Jr., died due to alcoholism, and one of Biden's favorite uncles was a heavy drinker.
Trump and Biden have also stayed away from the alcohol-heavy social scenes of Washington, D.C., and New York, according to the Times.
"These are two intensely competitive men who made a judgment early in their careers that their path to success is going to be willing themselves into the positions they wanted," said Evan Osnos, who has written a biography of Biden. "That did not leave much room for getting drunk."
But neither Trump nor Biden have felt left out due to their abstinence from alcohol, by most accounts.
"I don't think he cares," Trump biographer Timothy L. O'Brien said of the president. "He's never been someone who enjoys going to a party and socializing. His ideal night is sitting in front of a TV watching a sports event with a cheeseburger. That's his bottle of wine."
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