"The Unpaid Bar Tab"

March 1, 2000
Inside the Beltway
John McCaslin

Beers on Bubba
While first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton’s failure to tip a waitress recently attracted fleeting attention, President Clinton’s failure to pay a bar bill is on permanent display.

A framed photograph of him with his “legendary” unpaid tab hangs over a bar at the Marine Barracks in Washington. Mr. Clinton signed a tab to buy 17 drinks for officers at their Drum Room club after he was guest of honor at one of the Marines’ popular Friday evening parades.

A spokesman for the Marines said because money is never exchanged there, they sent him a bill once or twice after his May 7, 1993, visit, but Mr. Clinton never paid it.

“I can guarantee you we have tried to collect,” the spokesman said, before admitting he cannot provide proof of the “legend” often repeated to visitors who stroll through the historic wood-paneled club. “We’re not really looking for the money,” he added with a grin. “It’s a great piece of history. . . . We were very honored to have him here. Hopefully, this year he will return as a guest of honor.”

Mr. Clinton was the eighth president invited to the club. Their names are engraved on a pewter mug dubbed “the Jefferson Cup,” which hangs near the photo of President Clinton and his tab. Thomas Jefferson was the first to belly up to the bronze-topped bar on July 4, 1801.
While the Marines aren’t looking for the money owed them, it was our duty to call the White House.

“They did not want or expect him to pay,” White House spokesman Jim Kennedy said. “They were thrilled that he was able to stop by.”

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

I want to thank John McCaslin for mentioning Marine Barracks, Washington, and our presidential guests in his Inside the Beltway column (“Beers on Bubba,” March 1).

I need to point out, however, a discrepancy in the column. The Center House Mess at “the Oldest Post of the Corps” is a closed mess. Only those officers currently assigned to the post are allowed regular membership in the mess and are able to open a bill for refreshments or food.

Although he is an honorary member by virtue of his office, we do not charge the president of the United States any more than you would charge a guest entertained in your home.

The bar chit, accompanied by a photo of the president socializing with Marine Barracks officers, is memorabilia and not a bill.We always have been and ever will remain proud to host the commander in chief and welcome the opportunity to have him as a guest of honor.

If this fortunate occasion arises again, he will again be our guest in every sense of the word.

Semper fidelis.
COL. G. K. BRICKHOUSE
Marine Corps
Washington