Bob Hawke Alcoholic?
 

For those who are not Australian, Bob Hawke was Prime Minister of Australia 1983-1991. Many radical reforms were enacted during his term in office, including floating the AUD, de-regulating the banks and probably the biggest and best, the introduction of universal health care. Retrospectively he's considered one the greatest and most influential PMs in Australian history.

My reason for posting this is that I've been watching retrospectives on his life, and he was a very heavy drinker, his friends said an Alcoholic, when he was head of the main Trade Union body, and already very well known. As a young Rhodes Scholar at Oxford he held a beer skulling record for years, and many said he didn't ease up later in life. He was almost always under the influence, although never stumbling or blacking out.

I'll get to the point.....

He always intended to move into politics, and then become PM, so when he was ready he decided to stop drinking, and did. During his whole time in politics and as PM he never touched a drop.

Later when he went back to civilian life he did drink again but not to excess like before.

Not sure where I'm going with this. Was he a real A, or just someone who got into the habit in a drinking culture? And becoming sober for him was an act of will, motivated by his huge ambition. It's interesting that he was able to drink again - that makes me think he wasn't hard wired as an A.

Vale Bob Hawke, 1929-2019.

I don't want to get too much into a subject that may prove contentious. I think all disorder is on a spectrum - some more severe than others. I think once your body has become "physically" addicted (where you suffer withdrawal with physical symptoms).... ya I'm not sure if you can whack that back. I have certainly known problem drinkers in younger years who have seemed to find some alcohol boundaries later in life. This is not really a one size fits all kind of dealio in my eyes.

The only person that can answer that question is Bob and he is no longer here to do that. Many know from experience that for some of us to the outside world may have successfully portrayed the illusion that we were not problem drinkers and no-one would have known we were alcoholics in private so it’s not always that easy to tell. I lied a lot and for many years drank in private and secret and if you had asked anyone back then they would have said I most certainly don’t have a problem and drink sensibly.

I like to stick to the rule of not doing an inventory on others, focus on my own inventory. I find for me that when I start looking for and engaging in stories of people who used to have a problem but seem to have managed to get through it and become a normal drinker I am actually looking for evidence for the AV, a way to believe moderation and returning to a normal drinking pattern is possible. Fact is that doesn’t matter if someone else can do that, I know that I can’t and that is what I need to concentrate on. xx

I would say that you have to take what politicians/celebrities/famous people say about themselves and what other people say about them with a degree of caution as they invariably have some sort of agenda to promote.

I remember reading some comments that Michael Caine (who as an actor I have a lot of admiration for) made whereby he said that he used to drink 3 bottles of vodka a day. Now when I was an active alcoholic - albeit whiskey not vodka - there was simply no way I could have drank that much even once let alone every day. I am not a small guy and I am most definitely an alcoholic. At the time and I think the interview was about 10 years ago he also said he still drinks the occasional glass of wine. I'm not accusing Mr Caine of anything sinister, just saying that either of those behaviors would have been impossible for me.

As long as someone isn't drinking and driving the amount of alcohol they consume is not my business. Managing my own behavior is a full time job.

:c011:

I had the same passing thought when I read that he still holds the world record for some sort of beer drinking challenge that he did while in college.

Hard to say. I've known people who drank a ton in college and who either stopped drinking after that or radically moderated.

But a red flag did go up and hit my alkie spidey sense.

Crazy election you guys had yesterday.

Tell me! I don't think the 'experts' know how to predict now because all the polls were saying the opposite of what happened.

guys, If we drift into politics i'll have to shut this thread down.

https://www.soberrecovery.com/forums...ml#post6630397

My Australian political recovery hero is John Curtin.

A noted and desperate alcoholic who'd been hospitalised more than once, he stopped drinking, became the Opposition leader in the 30s, and then PM - and led our country through most of WW2, sober.

D