NEW YORK - Presidential rivals John McCain and Barack Obama have agreed to participate in what historian and author Theodore H. White once called "a ritual of American politics" — the annual Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner.
The 63rd annual dinner on Oct. 16 at New York's Waldorf-Astoria hotel has been a requisite stop for most politicians since the end of World War II. It has featured a galaxy of speakers from Winston Churchill (who spoke by trans-Atlantic telephone to the 1947 gathering) to Dwight Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush and his son, the current president.
Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair spoke at the 2007 affair.
The dinner, named for the former four-term governor of New York who was the unsuccessful 1928 Democratic presidential candidate and the first Catholic to run for president, are generally lighthearted affairs that benefit a charitable foundation that has raised millions for health care causes over the decades.
At the 2000 dinner, Al Gore and George W. Bush swapped some memorable one-liners.
Bush: "The story of Al Smith's historic run for the presidency is truly inspiring. It gives me hope that, in America, it's still not possible for a fellow named Al to be commander in chief."
Gore: "I never exaggerate. You can ask Tipper or any one of our 11 daughters."
This year's dinner comes one day after the presidential candidates meet in their final debate on the Hofstra University campus in Hempstead on Long Island.
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| TNS McCain, ĐDHY Egan, TNS Obama |
Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair spoke at the 2007 affair.
The dinner, named for the former four-term governor of New York who was the unsuccessful 1928 Democratic presidential candidate and the first Catholic to run for president, are generally lighthearted affairs that benefit a charitable foundation that has raised millions for health care causes over the decades.
At the 2000 dinner, Al Gore and George W. Bush swapped some memorable one-liners.
Bush: "The story of Al Smith's historic run for the presidency is truly inspiring. It gives me hope that, in America, it's still not possible for a fellow named Al to be commander in chief."
Gore: "I never exaggerate. You can ask Tipper or any one of our 11 daughters."
This year's dinner comes one day after the presidential candidates meet in their final debate on the Hofstra University campus in Hempstead on Long Island.