He was fond of bourbon
Harry Truman enjoyed the relatively simple diet of his native Missouri. Upon entering the White House he and his wife Bess were dismayed at the quality of the food service as practiced under the Roosevelt administration. Bess immediately took steps to bring the White House kitchens up to her standards, while Harry continued to enjoy the simple, straightforward meals which had always sustained him.
He continued another habit which had long sustained him as well – he enjoyed a morning bracer of a stiff shot of bourbon. It was consumed after his daily two-mile walk, always completed at a brisk marching pace, outdoors in any weather. Today such a habit is looked at with near shock, but Truman wasn’t the first President to imbibe a morning bracer, nor likely the last.
It was not unusual among other world leaders either, Churchill started his day with brandy and the newspapers in bed, deGaulle was known to enjoy champagne and orange juice in the morning. Truman did not allow his fondness for bourbon to cloud his judgment. For example, in 1947 he declared a sixty-day moratorium on shipping grain to all distilleries in order to increase supplies available for shipping to starving Europe.
Still, he and Bess had definite ideas of how they liked their bourbon served, although they both referred to their evening libation as an Old Fashioned. When they first came to the White House they made this preference known to the long-serving house barman, who promptly served them properly with muddled fruit, sugar and bourbon. They were just as promptly rejected.
After several exasperating attempts to create an Old Fashioned to meet their pleasure without success, the barman asked the Truman’s for specific directions on the preparation of their drinks. Both Harry and Bess wanted straight bourbon, over ice, served in an Old Fashioned glass. And that is how they had them.