WASHINGTON -- US President George W. Bush Tuesday said religion helped him overcome alcoholism and that he hasn't had a drink since he quit more than 21 years ago.

In a rare reference to having once been an alcoholic, Bush told a Protestant church-sponsored organization which helps prisoners reintegrate into society that a "higher power" helped him beat alcohol.

"Addiction is hard to overcome," Bush said in Baltimore, Maryland.

"As you might remember, I drank too much at one time in my life. I understand faith-based programs. I understand that sometimes you can find the inspiration from a higher power to solve an addiction problem," he said.

Bush, 61, has never hidden the fact that he once had an alcohol problem. But he does not often speak openly about it.

Before the presidential election in 2000 it came out that he had been arrested in 1976 for drunk driving near his parents' home in Kennebunkport, Maine.

He told ABC News in December that he had not been "a knee-walking drunk," but that he quit cold after a bout of heavy drinking on his 40th birthday.

"I had too much to drink one night, and the next day I didn't have any," he said. "I haven't had a drink since 1986."

"I doubt I'd be standing here if I hadn't quit drinking whiskey, and beer and wine and all that," the president said.