Skip to main content

That Time Richard Nixon Unknowingly Smuggled Cannabis into the United States

 Heyo! Sorry for the delay and my unintentional break. Yes, That Time... is moving to Mondays. Don't question it. Today, we're visiting a story from history that made me laugh when I first read about it. It will be a short one as there isn't much on this topic, but I wanted to write about it. Let's get into it!

Some backstory first for the two main players: Louis Armstrong and Richard Nixon. One is an American hero who deserves all my love and attention. The other was a president that I have very few nice things to say about.

Richard Nixon was the 37th President of the United States. He was president from 1969 until 1974 when he resigned following the infamous Watergate scandal. He was also previously the 36th Vice-President from 1953 until 1961. Like I said, I have very few nice things to say about him so this is all the background you're getting.

Louis Armstrong is one of my favorite artists, hands down. He is SO good. If you haven't listened to his music, I suggest just putting his Spotify artist page on shuffle. He is a singer and trumpet player. Most may know his most famous song, "What a Wonderful World". He is an absolute icon and I don't care what anyone says, I find his music timeless.

Armstrong had a fondness for cannabis when he was introduced to it in the mid-20s. He is credited as popularizing it among fellow jazz musicians in the 20s and 30s. In November 1930, Armstrong was arrested for smoking cannabis along with Vic Berton. They spent the night in jail.

In the late 1950s, the US government named Armstrong a Goodwill Ambassador. What is a Goodwill Ambassador? They were usually African-American artists who the US government sent on tours around the world to spread the ideals of American democracy.

In 1958, Armstrong had returned from a tour when instead of bypassing US customs, like most ambassadors were allowed to, he was told to join the customs line. Anxious about getting caught with what was in his bags, he was met by Nixon, Vice-President at the time, who offered to help him with his bags.

Of course, Armstrong accepted the offer as Nixon would not be searched. Unknowingly, Nixon smuggled 3 pounds of cannabis into the United States. Yes, the Vice-President of the United States of America smuggled the forbidden grass into the United States without knowing.

Now, I don't believe there is any actual evidence to this story as most of the sources I sought out were based on hearsay, but the idea of the story delighted me when it first came to my attention.

If there is another weird piece of history you want me to visit in this series, leave a comment below! You can find past That Time... posts here!

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

That Time A President Conducted Meetings from the Toilet

Happy Monday! Another week ahead. This week's weird moment from history is how President Lyndon B. Johnson conducted meetings and interviews while on the toilet. I learned way too much about LBJ while doing research for this post and it is going to be a LONG time before I write another weird history post about him. But there will be at least another one in the future. Man was weird. Quick history lesson for my non-Americans who may not know who LBJ is. Lyndon Baines Johnson was the 36th President of the United States. He assumed the position following the assassination of John F. Kennedy. He was president from 1963 til 1969. NOW if you're like me and you grew up with the rewatching the movie Forrest Gump over and over again your first introduction to LBJ might be when Forrest was being honored with the Medal of Honor and showed the president where he was "shot in the buttocks" during the Vietnam War.  I haven't watched Forrest Gump in years, but if you haven't...
Post a Comment
Read more

Fangirl Friday: Deleasa

 Heyo! Happy Friday! It's that time of the week when I ramble about someone I love! Today's subject is DJ and producer, Deleasa. His name is Mike Deleasa and while I normally refer to my subjects by first name in these posts, I will be referring to him by his stage name, Deleasa. NOW to understand how I became a fan of Deleasa, we have to go all the way back to 2012, when Kevin and Danielle Jonas' reality show, Married to Jonas  premiered. I bet you're wondering what does this guy have to do with the Jonas Brothers? Deleasa is actually Danielle's brother, making him Kevin's brother-in-law. He was featured in the reality show and I ended up falling in love with him. He was actually my parasocial "rebound" from Joe. You can read all about my parasocial breakup with Joe in my Fangirl Friday about him . But enough about the Jonas Brothers. That's not why we're here. Plus I've already written 30k words about them on this blog. However, I am for...
Post a Comment
Read more

Zac Efron and Garrett Clayton are Basically the Same Person

I, a 21-year-old adult, is still a HUGE fan of the High School Musical franchise. In high school, had I been a better planner, I would have asked Lucas Grabeel to be my prom date. And even though I was older than most viewers, I did love Teen Beach Movie when it came out. In this post, I am going to explain how Zac Efron and Garrett Clayton are basically the same person. Let's start at the beginning. You may know Zac Efron as Troy Bolton in the Disney Channel Original Movie (or DCOM), High School Musical and it's franchise. He is the attractive blue-eyed, protagonist of all three HSM movies. And I will admit that I was a huge fangirl for him in my youth. Honestly, now I can't stand him. But that's for another post. Zac portrayed Troy in all three HSM films, but he only sang in the last two. That's right. Zac Efron did not sing in the first HSM movie. That was the amazingly talented Drew Seeley whom I will love till the day I die. Similarly, Garrett Clayton pl...
1 comment
Read more