Cheers to George Cassiday!

This podcast was recorded in Spring 2022. The transcript has been edited for length and clarity.

The Volstead Act of 1919 officially outlawed the production, distribution, and consumption of alcoholic beverages. However, the tide began to turn against temperance, and just 13 years later, with the ratification of the 21st Amendment in 1933, the Prohibition Era was officially over. 

But how effective was Prohibition anyway? Although overall alcohol consumption decreased due to Prohibition, Americans managed to obtain liquor illegally. As Prohibition continued, alcohol consumption in the US became increasingly common. In fact, even during Prohibition, most of Congress enjoyed alcoholic beverages. Where did they get their drinks?

Hi, I’m Olivia Glunz, a Staff Writer for the Harvard Undergraduate Law Review. Today, I’ll be telling you the story of George L. Cassiday, a legendary bootlegger who supplied illegal drinks to 80% of Congress during Prohibition.

George Cassiday was born in Virginia in 1892 to two exceedingly sober parents. Cassiday’s father drank sparingly, while his mother was a member of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union. So, how did the son of this upstanding couple become one of America’s most infamous bootleggers?

Cassiday was fighting overseas in the First World War when the 18th Amendment was ratified, and returning to America at the war’s end, Cassiday’s first thought certainly wasn’t bootlegging. Instead, he tried to return to his former job at the Pennsylvania Railroad. Unfortunately, Cassiday failed his physical exam and found himself unemployed. So what was George to do? Like 40% of returning World War I veterans, he had no job and needed to make a living. 

As Cassiday later explained, “In the summer of 1920, I met this friend in the lobby of the old Hotel Varnum in Washington. He introduced me to two representatives from a Southern State. They asked if I could supply them. After making arrangements to get the stuff, I made my first deliveries on Capitol Hill to these two members.”

As it turned out, Congressmen certainly enjoyed their liquor. As a result, word about George’s operation spread. Soon, the business grew so large that simply smuggling alcohol into the Capitol in his coat pockets was no longer feasible for George. A Midwestern Congressman had a suggestion: why not set up an illegal alcohol shop inside the Capitol? 

With his customers’ help, George obtained a hidden room in the House Office building. A bolt for the door, blinds for the windows, and a secret knock ensured that George remained undercover.  

Now George had his own room to store and distribute large quantities of alcohol, but mustn’t he have struggled to sneak the alcohol into the House Office building in the first place? Actually, no. In the 1920s, Capitol security was significantly more relaxed. Capitol Police only inspected boxes that were being taken out of the Building. Furthermore, the Capitol Police were chosen by members of Congress, many of whom were George’s customers. As a result, George smuggled briefcases full of alcohol into the House Office Building without much difficulty and sold liquor to 20-25 Congressmen on average each day. In his down time, George enjoyed listening to members speak on the House floor. Prohibition remained an important topic, and George couldn’t help but notice some hypocrisy. He wrote, “I have heard members of the House and Senate making strong arguments on the floor that prohibition was being well-enforced when I knew good stuff was being regularly delivered at their own offices for use by their secretaries or clerks.”[1]

In 1925, however, 5 years after his operation had begun, some Congressmen did start to enforce Prohibition. George was finally stopped by an officer and banned from the House Office Building. But that didn’t stop George — after being released from his 90-day Jail sentence, he merely shifted focus to the Senate. Senators were more keen to avoid scandal than the Congressmen but still had a taste for liquor. As a result, many employed euphemisms. Describing one of his customers, Cassiday wrote, "He never mentioned liquor to me, but occasionally he would say he could use some 'new reading matter.' This customer always referred to me as his 'librarian.' "

In February of 1930, George was finally caught thanks to Roger Butts, an undercover member of the Prohibition Bureau who managed after many months to catch Cassiday in the act of smuggling. Cassiday was arrested and sentenced to one year in jail. According to Cassiday’s son, George never actually slept in jail. “He would go there in the morning every day, sign himself in, and then, at the end of the day, sign himself out."

Cassiday took advantage of his arrest to make a name for himself. The Washington Post ran several articles by George which described his operation and revealed Congress’s hypocrisy. Although George never actually disclosed the names of his customers, his articles likely impacted the 1930 elections, in which the anti-prohibition Democrats regained control of Congress.

Cassiday went on to work at a factory and in hotels before his death in 1967. This enterprising war veteran will always be remembered for his role in bringing Prohibition to an end. His story reminds us to think carefully about laws, hypocrisy, and their consequences.