Richard Nixon
UNBELIEVABLE!!! You got it. This means my Trivia question for tomorrow will have to be MUCH TOUGHER. I honestly thought it would take at least HOURS to figure this out than just a couple of minutes.
Yes, the correct answer if Richard Nixon. While a Navy supply officer on an island in the South Pacific during WWII, he ran a hamburger stand called Nick's Burgers which provided fresh hamburgers and beer for pilots passing through. As the supply officer he had a good ability to scrounge up all kinds of supplies including food.
Nixon's other great skill was poker. He never played much until entering the Navy but learned quickly because he needed the money. By the time he left the Navy he had earned several thousand dollars which back then was sufficient to kick off a political campaign which he did in 1946 when he used those poker winnings to win him a congressional seat.
So how did poker almost get him killed? After entering Congress, Nixon made a name for himself during the investigation of Alger Hiss. In 1950 he was elected senator from California and in 1952 he was chosen for Vice President by Dwight D. Eisenhower. In 1958, as Vice President, Nixon traveled to South America on a goodwill tour. While in a motorcade in Caracas, his limo was almost overturned by a wild mob of Communists. Of course, he wouldn't even be in that position in the first place if he had not kicked off his political career using the winnings earned by his skill at poker.
And, as Paul Harvey would say...Now you know the REST of the story.