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Article: Obama's secret vice; The evil weed.(Barack Obama's secret vice)(Brief article)
- Article from:
- The Economist (US)
- Article date:
- January 20, 2007
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2007 Economist Newspaper Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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A human in the White House?
IN HIS 1995 memoir, "Dreams from My Father", Barack Obama confessed to youthful dabbling with pot, booze and "maybe a little blow". These admissions have not hurt his cause. If anything, they have been taken as a sign of candour. But the senator has at least one more vice. He smokes cigarettes. "It's not something I'm proud of," he said last year. He is trying to quit. If he fails, some voters may hold it against him.
In the past American presidents have not had to be shy about smoking. When Ulysses Grant told a reporter he liked cigars, well-wishers sent him more than 20,000. FDR used an elegant cigarette holder. Gerald Ford ...