When I was preparing to leave the George W. Bush administration after Barack Obama’s 2008 election, I had a conversation with a career security officer at the Department of Health and Human Services. He had his own thoughts on what the transition of administrations would mean, telling me that “with the Democrats coming in, we have to turn a blind eye to sex and drugs on our background checks.”

I laughed. Then he added, “But when you [Republican] guys come in, we have to overlook shady business practices.” I thought about this conversation in light of the recent Secret Service disclosures about finding cocaine in the Biden White House. Looking back at the people and policies of the past 75 years of White House history, it’s pretty clear that my security office friend was right and Democrats have generally been more lenient on drug issues than Republicans.