Petition to Congress: Alcohol—Hitler's Best Friend, America's Worst Enemy
1943
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This petition was sent to Congress from "the fathers, mothers, wives, sweethearts and friends of the boys in the service" asking for a law "protecting the service boys against alcoholic liquors."
Though the Temperance Movement had gained a victory in the 1920s when the 18th Amendment established Prohibition, that victory turned into a defeat when Prohibition was repealed. The national debate over alcohol did not end there, however.
This 1943 petition to Congress for the return to Prohibition, titled “Alcohol—Hitler’s Best Friend, America’s Worst Enemy” clearly shows the debate was still strong. By associating alcohol with Hitler, especially at the height of World War II, it is evident that the 19 petitioners, both men and women, considered alcohol an evil.
Within the opening of their appeal, the authors claimed that alcohol and women were to blame for the downfall of France. They also argued that Japanese saloonkeepers provided free liquor for servicemen at the time of the Pearl Harbor attack.
The signers went on to quote General John J. Pershing, who believed that the United States Government should ban liquor from the nation, close saloons, punish drinkers, and "if necessary, death to the seller."
Though the Temperance Movement had gained a victory in the 1920s when the 18th Amendment established Prohibition, that victory turned into a defeat when Prohibition was repealed. The national debate over alcohol did not end there, however.
This 1943 petition to Congress for the return to Prohibition, titled “Alcohol—Hitler’s Best Friend, America’s Worst Enemy” clearly shows the debate was still strong. By associating alcohol with Hitler, especially at the height of World War II, it is evident that the 19 petitioners, both men and women, considered alcohol an evil.
Within the opening of their appeal, the authors claimed that alcohol and women were to blame for the downfall of France. They also argued that Japanese saloonkeepers provided free liquor for servicemen at the time of the Pearl Harbor attack.
The signers went on to quote General John J. Pershing, who believed that the United States Government should ban liquor from the nation, close saloons, punish drinkers, and "if necessary, death to the seller."
Transcript
Petition to Congress[handwritten Calvin Johnson]
ALCOHOL—Hitler's Best Friend, America's Worst Enemy.
Col. Robert G. Ingersoll said of alcohol: "It is the devil's best friend, God's worst enemy." Alcohol is Hitler's best friend, America's worst enemy. Alcohol and women caused the downfall of France. Jap saloon keepers dished out free liquor to America's service boys and Pearl Harbor went down. The service boys have free access to alcoholic liquors. I have a tract "Help Win This War (Here's How)." In that tract is this language: "He (God) sees caravans of female demons incarnate stationed in trailers just outside our army camps, doing their best to drag our sons to hell."
THE GREATEST FOE—"Banish the entire liquor industry from the United States; close every saloon and brewery; supress drinking by severe punishment to the drinker; and, if necessary, death to the seller, or maker or both, as traitors, and the national will suddenly find itself amazed at its efficiency and started at the increase in its labor supply. I shall not go slow on prohibition, for I know what is the greatest foe to my men, greater than the bullets of the enemy." -Gen. John J. Pershing.
The above being true, we, the fathers, mothers, wives, sweethearts and friends of the boys in the service, feel that if we did not respectfully and urgently request our good friends in Congress to protect the boys in the service against alcoholic liquors and the above described women we would be bathing our hands in the blood of those service boys. Hence we request you good people to pass a law protecting the service boys against alcoholic liquors which General Pershing tells us is their greatest foe, at the earliest possible moment. They are suffering, bleeding and dying in pools of patriotic blood and God forbid that their blood should cry out against us from the ground as did Abel's blood cry out against his brother Cain.
NAME / ADDRESS
John N. Wall Sorento, Illinois
Mable M. Wall Sorento, Illinois
H E Bo[illegible] Sorento Ill
Gert Weber Reno, Ill.
Cordia M Dane Sorento Ill
Harold Helgen Sorento Ill
Mrs Harold Helgen Sorent, Ill.
Mrs Mark Cruthis "" ""
Vind Hollenbough Sorento Ill.
Mart Cruthis ""
Mrs. J. Sefheni Dove. Sorento Ill.
Mrs Myrtle Varmer Sorento Ill
Mrs Irene Beau... Sorento Ill.
Earl Flood Sorento Ill.
Mrs. Windell Young Sorento Ill.
Mrs. Archie Grisham " "
Mrs. William Wall Sorento, Ill
William Wall Sorento Ill
19 Nora Lebeter Sorento, Ill.
Henry Wall . Sorento, Ill
Rev. Hazel Galbreath. Sorento, Ill.
Effie Caulk Sorento Ill.
Effie Parmley.... Sorento, Ill.
Mrs. S. T. Young Sorento, Ill.
Myrtle B. Ambrose Sorento, Ill.
Mrs. Dwight Reeves Sorento, Ill
Mrs. Belle Ambrose Sorento Ill.
Rose Griffith Sorento, Ill.
Mae Chittum Sorento, Ill.
Stella C Davis Tuscola Ill.
J.S Chittum, MD. Sorento, Ill.
GI Gorden Sorento Ill
Reba Dove Sorento Ill
34 M.M. Wilber Sorento Ill
This primary source comes from the Records of the U.S. Senate.
National Archives Identifier: 16764619
Full Citation: Alcohol—Hitler's Best Friend, America's Worst Enemy; 1943; Petitions and Memorials, Resolutions of State Legislatures, and Related Documents, which were Referred to the Committee on Military Affairs during the 78th Congress; (SEN78A-J14); Committee Papers, 1816 - 1946; Records of the U.S. Senate, Record Group 46; National Archives Building, Washington, DC. [Online Version, https://docsteach.org/documents/document/alcohol-hitlers-best-friend, April 20, 2025]Rights: Public Domain, Free of Known Copyright Restrictions. Learn more on our privacy and legal page.
