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Andrew Joseph Volstead[vol´sted] Pronunciation Key, 1860–1947, American legislator, b. Goodhue co., Minn. A lawyer, he held several local offices in Minnesota before serving (1903–23) in the U.S. House of Representatives. He sponsored many measures in Congress and became a national figure as the author of the Volstead Act. That federal prohibition act, passed in 1919 over the veto of President Wilson, made provisions for the enforcement of the Eighteenth Amendment. The act defined an intoxicating beverage as one containing more than .5% alcohol by volume. It also gave federal agents the power to investigate and prosecute violations of the amendment. The act was modified (1933) in order to permit the sale of 3.2% beer and wine, and became void after the repeal of the Eighteenth Amendment late in 1933.
See J. A. Krout, Origins of Prohibition (1925, repr. 1967); A. Sinclair, Prohibition (1962, repr. 1964).
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