Word: dolley
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Washington was built on a river of "ardent spirits," a nice term used long ago for the hard stuff. Laborers on public buildings got larger whiskey rations the higher up they worked, a dubious formula. But the buildings did get finished. Dolley Madison brought this "saloon culture" into the White House, getting the political leaders out of the bars and into more graceful surroundings. The drinks came on silver trays. James Madison cut some good deals...
...When she began dragging men in off the street, the new city's normally tolerant commissioners had her removed. When that British rascal Rear Admiral George Cockburn broke into the White House with 150 of his sailors on Aug. 24, 1814, they ate the dinner prepared for James and Dolley Madison, who had fled. Then, before firing the place, Cockburn claimed a chair cushion, declaring that it would help him remember Mrs. Madison's seat. The remark was considered so risque it was not printed for years...
That night came the Inaugural balls, which have been part of the Inauguration since James and Dolley Madison had one in 1809. For Reagan, there were ten balls around Washington (plus local versions in 83 cities via a closed-circuit TV hookup), the most ever, and the price of admission was $100 per person, also the most ever. The balls were generally glamorous, and most participants, at some point in the evening, had a good time. But many of the affairs were disorganized, and all were jampacked. Texas Millionaire John Bartlett, for example, was one of the unfortunates...
...Washington that word is being carried by three flourishing establishments: the Dolley Madison, a 44-room addition to the Madison hotel opened in 1978 to provide all the comforts "of a tastefully appointed town mansion," including bidets and well-stocked private bars; the Fairfax, a venerable Embassy Row fixture whose 165 rooms and federal-style lobby were renovated last year at a cost of some $7 million; and the red brick, 208-room Four Seasons in Georgetown, which proffers afternoon tea and, according to its brochure, a morning calm broken "only by an occasional jogging Senator...