NICE GUY AWARD

Having been a DC bartender for almost forty years, I have come across all kinds of people: good, bad, indifferent, nice, mean, generous, cheap, straight, gay, not-sure-which-way, young, old, famous, infamous, etc., etc. When behind the bar, I always wanted to be treated as a person, not a servant. And one of the people who fit that bill was Lanny Davis, White House Counsel to President Clinton. One of the nicest people I've ever served in all those years of bartending. I was always supposed to have a smile on my face for my guests, (formerly customers, but that term is politically incorrect now. And go REDSKINS!), but Lanny always had a smile for me. When Lanny Davis was working at the White House for President Clinton, he would stop in after work at the Oval Room Restaurant, where I was tending bar at the time, and quaff down a couple of Tanqueray and tonics. (From all the pressure he was under, I'm surprised he never had more than a couple!) And he was always writing down his notes on my bar napkins for his book, "Truth To Tell." I always kidded him, and told him I wanted those "note napkins" for a souvineer! Lanny Davis always made it worthwhile to go in to work. It was always a pleasure for me to serve him. He was always a gentleman, and never had a mean word for or about anyone. (Another "nicest person award" would go to George Stephanopolous, who came into my bar one morning, and asked if I minded if he sat at my bar while waiting for his lunch compatriots. He also greeted me with a smile! This was also at the Oval Room, one of the three times I ever worked a day shift during my long career. Lanny is also a gifted jazz pianist, as he demonstrated one night on the Oval Room piano, with his wife Carolyn singing at his side. If he ever left his law career, he would have a job as a jazz pianist overnight, in a heartbeat. I wish all my guests were as nice as Lanny Davis. But if they were, then I'd have no material for my memoirs!

Terry McAuliffe

Re: The Virginia elections - 2013 - Governor. This is interesting: I'm so glad Terry McAuliffe won! I know him very well. He was a regular customer of mine when I worked at the Oval Room Restaurant, Washington, DC, and he was working at the White House for Clinton. He would periodically come in about 6pm, after he left the White House, with other people who worked with him at the WH. He always called me ahead of time and ask for a few Amstel Lights to be put on ice. One time I left work early, and Terry was leaving the same time. He asked me where I was going, and I said I was getting a cab to the Childe Harold, up at Dupont Circle, to meet a few friends for a few beers. He told me he would give me a ride, which he did, and I asked him to come in with me, but he declined. Now, after he's done being governor, he may run for President. This is great: if he ever becomes President, then I can say the President of the U.S. once gave me a ride to a bar! What a story that would be! When he came into the Oval Room bar, Clinton would call him a lot on his cell phone. When the President called him, he would get up and walk over to the corner and say: "Yessir, Mr. President?" He would never sit while talking to Clinton. What a class act he is! You don't hear stories like this in Oshkosh, Wisconsin! Terry is such a nice guy, very, very polite, and a gentleman. He wrote a book a few years ago, and I went to his reading and signing at Barnes and Noble in Bethesda, Maryland. His book was "What A Party!" He inscribed it to me: "To Nick Wineriter, the greatest bartender in DC. Terry McAuliffe." He gave a great talk at the bookstore. He said about the war in Iraq, that if we took the money that the war is costing this country, that money would buy health care for every living American. He got a standing ovation when he said that. I'm so glad he won! I hope he runs for President someday.