Investments in Equity Securities (Investment in JUUL Narrative) (Details)		1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended				12 Months Ended
	Jan. 28, 2020 director	Dec. 31, 2018 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2019 USD ($) case director	Sep. 30, 2019 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2019 USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2019 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2019 USD ($) case director	Dec. 31, 2018 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2017 USD ($)	Dec. 20, 2018
Investments [Line Items]
Investment in JUUL | $							$ 5,000,000	$ 12,800,000,000	$ 0
Equity securities without readily determinable fair value, upward price adjustment | $			$ 0				0
Equity securities without readily determinable fair value, downward price adjustment, cumulative amount | $			$ 0				$ 0
Number of litigation cases outstanding | case			340				340
Percentage increase of litigation cases outstanding since prior filing			80.00%				80.00%
Impairment of JUUL equity securities | $			$ 4,100,000,000	$ 4,500,000,000	$ 0	$ 0	$ 8,600,000,000	$ 0	$ 0
JUUL [Member]
Investments [Line Items]
Equity Securities Without Readily Determinable Fair Value, Right to Designate Board Members, Percentage										33.33%
Investment in JUUL | $		$ 12,800,000,000
Equity securities without readily determinable fair value, ownership percentage		35.00%	35.00%				35.00%	35.00%
Service agreement term							6 years
Number of board members			7				7
Impairment of JUUL equity securities | $			$ 4,100,000,000	$ 4,500,000,000			$ 8,600,000,000
Investment acquisition costs | $							$ 8,000,000	$ 85,000,000
JUUL [Member] | Subsequent Event [Member]
Investments [Line Items]
Non-compete release trigger period	12 months
Non-compete release trigger percentage of initial investment carrying value	10.00%
No litigation period	1 year
Number of board members upon share conversion	9
Number of independent board members upon share conversion	3
Number of independent board members appointed by investor upon share conversion	1
Number of independent board members appointed by investee stockholders upon share conversion	2
Number of investor nominating committee designees	1
Number of directors designated by investor upon share conversion	2
Number of directors designated by JUUL shareholders other than Altria upon share conversion	3
Number of oversight committee directors designated by investor upon share conversion	2
Number of oversight committee chair directors designated by investor upon share conversion	1