Those familiar with the pain of a hangover are likely well aware of how it can make one feel like giving up drinking for good. While many people don’t follow-through with that idea after the symptoms of consuming too much booze subside, that wasn’t the case for former president George W. Bush – who gave up drinking ‘cold turkey’ after a wild weekend in Colorado. While it remains up for debate, the decision that he made during his trip to the Centennial State likely played a key role in his ability to build the successful political career he is now known for.

Serving as the President of the United States from January 2001 through January 2009, George W. Bush has discussed problems related to alcohol several times throughout his political career. These issues became public knowledge on a massive scale when details of his drunk driving arrest in 1976 resurfaced a week before the 2000 election. About 10 years prior to that arrest – when he was 20 – Bush was arrested another time, in that case for disorderly conduct. Charges related to that situation were ultimately dropped, according to ABC News.

“He’d drink too much and he could really be obnoxious when he drank too much,” one of Bush’s lifelong friends is quoted as saying. “For lack of a better word, he could be a real a—— when he drank.”

By the time the news of Bush’s legal problems related to booze broke at the national level in 2000, however, Bush had already been abstaining from alcohol for more than 14 years, with that pivotal switch dating back to a 1986 trip to Colorado Springs’ iconic Broadmoor resort.

According to a piece published in 2000 by The Oklahoman, Bush, his wife, and several friends traveled from Texas to celebrate his 40th birthday in the Centennial State. The trip took place in July of 1986.

That piece reports that Bush and his party dined at one of the Broadmoor’s restaurants during the festive weekend, ordering about five or six bottles of red wine. The following morning, Bush set off on his daily three-mile run, plagued by a bad hangover that would prove to be life-changing.

Amid the pain brought on by his hangover, Bush made a mid-run decision to stop drinking altogether, and he actually stuck with it.

“He just said, ‘I don’t need this in my life. It’s robbing me of my energy. It’s taking too much of my time,'” recounts one of Bush’s long-term friends, published in a report from People on the topic.

Keep in mind that at the time of his Colorado trip, his father, George H. W. Bush, was serving as vice president under Reagan, and there was already talk about his father’s potential presidential run in the 1988 election. As noted in the piece from The Oklahoman, friends would later say that a fear of embarrassing his father with his drunken antics could have been a contributing factor in his decision to stop drinking, aside from just the groggy morning that followed his night at the Broadmoor.

Either way, Bush’s trip to Colorado in 1986 set the stage for him to become more involved in politics and his father’s campaign team, a path that would ultimately result in ‘W’ following in his father’s footsteps, going on to lead the country, too.

Maybe it was the high-elevation nature of Colorado Springs that amplified the lingering effects of Bush’s Broadmoor booze, or maybe he wasn’t quite yet acclimated for his morning run. Regardless, had he not made the decision to stop drinking during his Centennial State trip, there’s a chance he would have remained on the fringe of politics, thus, there’s a chance he wouldn’t have been president during the September 11 attacks that played such a major role in shaping America into what it is today.

The next time you visit The Broadmoor, seek out its ‘Hall of Fame,’ which features photographs of the many celebrities, politicians, athletes, and other famous people who have walked the halls of the resort. Find George W. Bush’s picture, and remember that it was at The Broadmoor that he made a decision that most likely changed the course of world history.

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