Dinner in Camelot

The Night America's Greatest Scientists, Writers, and Scholars Partied at the Kennedy White House

Nonfiction, History, Americas, United States, 20th Century, Social & Cultural Studies, Political Science, Government
Cover of the book Dinner in Camelot by Joseph A. Esposito, University Press of New England
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Joseph A. Esposito ISBN: 9781512602555
Publisher: University Press of New England Publication: April 3, 2018
Imprint: ForeEdge Language: English
Author: Joseph A. Esposito
ISBN: 9781512602555
Publisher: University Press of New England
Publication: April 3, 2018
Imprint: ForeEdge
Language: English

In April 1962, President and Mrs. John F. Kennedy hosted forty-nine Nobel Prize winners—along with many other prominent scientists, artists, and writers—at a famed White House dinner. Among the guests were J. Robert Oppenheimer, who was officially welcomed back to Washington after a stint in the political wilderness; Linus Pauling, who had picketed the White House that very afternoon; William and Rose Styron, who began a fifty-year friendship with the Kennedy family that night; James Baldwin, who would later discuss civil rights with Attorney General Robert Kennedy; Mary Welsh Hemingway, Ernest Hemingway’s widow, who sat next to the president and grilled him on Cuba policy; John Glenn, who had recently orbited the earth aboard Friendship 7; historian Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., who argued with Ava Pauling at dinner; and many others. Actor Frederic March gave a public recitation after the meal, including some unpublished work of Hemingway’s that later became part of Islands in the Stream. Held at the height of the Cold War, the dinner symbolizes a time when intellectuals were esteemed, divergent viewpoints could be respectfully discussed at the highest level, and the great minds of an age might all dine together in the rarefied glamour of “the people’s house.”

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

In April 1962, President and Mrs. John F. Kennedy hosted forty-nine Nobel Prize winners—along with many other prominent scientists, artists, and writers—at a famed White House dinner. Among the guests were J. Robert Oppenheimer, who was officially welcomed back to Washington after a stint in the political wilderness; Linus Pauling, who had picketed the White House that very afternoon; William and Rose Styron, who began a fifty-year friendship with the Kennedy family that night; James Baldwin, who would later discuss civil rights with Attorney General Robert Kennedy; Mary Welsh Hemingway, Ernest Hemingway’s widow, who sat next to the president and grilled him on Cuba policy; John Glenn, who had recently orbited the earth aboard Friendship 7; historian Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., who argued with Ava Pauling at dinner; and many others. Actor Frederic March gave a public recitation after the meal, including some unpublished work of Hemingway’s that later became part of Islands in the Stream. Held at the height of the Cold War, the dinner symbolizes a time when intellectuals were esteemed, divergent viewpoints could be respectfully discussed at the highest level, and the great minds of an age might all dine together in the rarefied glamour of “the people’s house.”

More books from University Press of New England

Cover of the book The Myth of Progress by Joseph A. Esposito
Cover of the book Fanny & Joshua by Joseph A. Esposito
Cover of the book Victura by Joseph A. Esposito
Cover of the book New Wilderness Voices by Joseph A. Esposito
Cover of the book Archeology in the Adirondacks by Joseph A. Esposito
Cover of the book Civil Society, Philanthropy, and the Fate of the Commons by Joseph A. Esposito
Cover of the book Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer by Joseph A. Esposito
Cover of the book Mad Music by Joseph A. Esposito
Cover of the book Cannabis Consulting by Joseph A. Esposito
Cover of the book Shortchanged by Joseph A. Esposito
Cover of the book The Lives of Dillon Ripley by Joseph A. Esposito
Cover of the book Trespassing by Joseph A. Esposito
Cover of the book Wilde Times by Joseph A. Esposito
Cover of the book Maximum Harm by Joseph A. Esposito
Cover of the book At the Point of a Cutlass by Joseph A. Esposito
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy