Deborah Davis - Guest of Honor: Booker T. Washington, Theodore Roosevelt, and the White House Dinner That Shocked a Nation

In this revealing social history, one remarkable White House dinner becomes a lens through which to examine race, politics, and the lives and legacies of two of Americas most iconic figures.

I n 1901, President Theodore Roosevelt invited Booker T. Washington to have dinner at the executive mansion with the First Family. The next morning, news that the president had dined with a black manand former slavesent shock waves through the nation. Although African Americans had helped build the White House and had worked for most of the presidents, not a single one had ever been invited to dine there. Fueled by inflammatory newspaper articles, political cartoons, and even vulgar songs, the scandal escalated and threatened to topple two of Americas greatest men.

In this smart, accessible narrative, one seemingly ordinary dinner becomes a window onto postCivil War American history and politics, and onto the lives of two dynamic men whose experiences and philosophies connect in unexpected ways. Deborah Davis also introduces dozens of other fascinating figures who have previously occupied the margins and footnotes of history, creating a lively and vastly entertaining book that reconfirms her place as one of our most talented popular historians.

Praise for Deborah Davis

GUEST O F HONOR

A well-researched, highly readable treatment of an important era in racial relations, encapsulated in the meeting of two of the eras most significant men.

Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

In fluid prose and with clear respect for her subject matter, Davis paints a vivid picture of race relations at the turn of the 20th centurya story resonating with todays fraught political and racial landscape.

Publishers Weekly

[Davis] is a skilled historian who sets her readable story in broad historical context.

Library Journal

It is valuable because it gives us not only a picture of how things have changed in the century since Teddy Roosevelt was president but also how much really hasnt changed.

The Moderate Voice

This is history that excites. This is history that inspires. And this is history that will make readers stay up all night.

Betty DeRamus, author of Freedom by Any Means

STRAPLESS

Lively.... [Davis] has uncovered some intriguing details.

The New York Times

A stunner about a stunner.... A deft tale of the woman, the artist, and the controversy, using the authors own research and a thorough analysis of nineteenth-century Paris.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

A fascinating commentary on the evanescence of fame and beauty.

Kirkus Reviews

Three cheers for Strapless !

Meg Cabot, New York Times bestselling
author of The Princess Diaries

PARTY OF THE CENTURY

Splendidly colorful.

The New York Times

Captures the spirit and significance of the occasion with new material and fresh perspective, making this a party worth crashing.

Town & Country

A tantalizing aperitif... a confection of a book.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer

One of the best reads of the season.

Billy Norwich, Vogue

Vastly entertaining.

Liz Smith

DEBORAH DAVIS is the author of Strapless: John Singer Sargent and the Fall of Madame X; Party of the Century: The Fabulous Story of Truman Capote and His Black and White Ball; Gilded: How Newport Became Americas Richest Resort; and The Oprah Winfrey Show: Reflections on an American Legacy . She formerly worked as an executive, story editor, and story analyst for several major film companies.

MEET THE AUTHORS, WATCH VIDEOS AND MORE AT
SimonandSchuster.com
THE SOURCE FOR READING GROUPS

Facebook.com/AtriaBooks
Twitter.com/AtriaBooks

JACKET DESIGN BY ALAN DINGMAN
JACKET ART CORBIS
AUTHOR PHOTOGRAPH BY ROBIN HOLLAND
COPYRIGHT 2012 SIMON & SCHUSTER

Thank you for purchasing this Atria Books eBook.

Sign up for our newsletter and receive special offers, access to bonus content, and info on the latest new releases and other great eBooks from Atria Books and Simon & Schuster.

or visit us online to sign up at
eBookNews.SimonandSchuster.com

We hope you enjoyed reading this Atria Books eBook.

Sign up for our newsletter and receive special offers, access to bonus content, and info on the latest new releases and other great eBooks from Atria Books and Simon & Schuster.

or visit us online to sign up at
eBookNews.SimonandSchuster.com

ALSO BY DEBORAH DAVIS

GILDED
PARTY OF THE CENTURY
STRAPLESS

A Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
1230 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10020
www.SimonandSchuster.com

Copyright 2012 by Deborah Davis

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information, address Atria Books Subsidiary Rights Department, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.

First Atria Paperback edition February 2013

ATRIA BOOKS and colophon are trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

The Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau can bring authors to your live event. For more information or to book an event, contact the Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau at 1-866-248-3049 or visit our website at www.simonspeakers.com.

Designed by Joseph Rutt/Level C Design

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Davis, Deborah, date.
Guest of honor : Booker T. Washington, Theodore Roosevelt, and the White House
dinner that shocked a nation / by Deborah Davis.1st Atria Books hardcover ed.
p. cm.
1. Roosevelt, Theodore, 18581919. 2. Washington, Booker T., 18561915.
3. PresidentsUnited StatesBiography. 4. African American educators
United StatesBiography. 5. United StatesSocial conditions18651918.
6. United StatesRace relationsHistory20th century. 7. United States
Politics and government19011909. I. Title.

E757.D247 2012
973.911092dc23

[B] 2012009045

ISBN 978-1-4391-6981-0
ISBN 978-1-4391-6982-7 (pbk)
ISBN 978-1-4391-6983-4 (ebook)

For my husband, Mark Urman

A dinner invitation to the White House, it is said, is like a command. Etiquette rules that it cannot be declined.

Gilson Willets,
Inside History of the White House