"There have been more than 40 U.S. presidents since the country's founding in 1776, and, like the rest of us, they all had their own food preferences. American cuisine has changed quite a bit over the past two and a half centuries, so it's hardly surprising that George Washington's diet wasn't exactly in lockstep with John F. Kennedy's or Bill Clinton's. Many Americans today are unfamiliar with hoecakes, for instance, a breakfast item the first commander-in-chief was especially fond of."
"Food and drink often serve as a way for politicians to show relatability. There's a reason why the electability of a candidate is often gauged by whether or not the average American voter would want to have a beer with them. So, it should be taken with a grain of salt whenever a politician announces that their favorite food just happens to be the specialty dish of the state they're currently campaigning in."
There have been over 40 U.S. presidents since 1776, each with individual food preferences reflecting changing American cuisine across centuries. Presidential food choices range from historical items like hoecakes favored by George Washington to modern peculiarities such as Richard Nixon's cottage cheese with ketchup and his consistent breakfast of fresh orange juice, half a grapefruit, wheat germ cereal, and coffee. Food and drink function as political signals of relatability, influencing perceptions of electability, while campaign culinary claims may be strategic. Documentarians preserved many presidential tastes, providing records of private eating habits alongside public image efforts.
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