Smoking and the protocol

Smoking is a vital necessity for many diplomats and politicians, even when they have to sit in negotiations for hours.

But how do they cope with this bad habit? Do they take smoke-breaks? Or have to curtail and resist without cigarettes? Or arrange for a break directly at the table?

If we look in the past, all these options were acceptable.

They smoked a lot and did not think about consequences not only for health but also for possible conflicts.
Protocol colleagues found several books in which politicians recall conflict situations between allies.

On June 24, 1942, Eisenhower landed without honors and ceremonies at the London airport. He was an avid smoker and couldn't stand when his freedom and desires were limited.

Once Winston Churchill invited Eisenhower for dinner. The English protocol imposed a very unpleasant rule: smoking was permitted at the dinner table only after the toast to the King. Eisenhower's displeasure was reported to Churchill, and the wise P.M. made a truly English decision saying that the Englishmen firmly adhere to English customs and abstain from smoking before the toast to the King. However, there were no strict rules regarding the exact time of the toast. And thus, Churchill raised his glass for His Majesty King George VI of the United Kingdom. Eisenhower was happy. Though his health was compromised. In March 1949, he realized that counting cigarettes was harder than living without the bad habit, so he quit smoking.