Anita McBride, former chief of staff to First Lady Laura Bush and co-author of the forthcoming book “Remember the First Ladies: The Legacies of America’s History-Making Women,” was fêted at a book party and luncheon hosted by Franco Nuschese at Cafe Milano on December 13.
The gathering was marked by a toast from Nuschese to McBride, celebrating their decades-long friendship, their shared Italian heritage, and her contributions to the field of politics.
During the lunch, Haddad Media CEO Tammy Haddad interviewed the guest of honor, prying her for insights and interesting facts about first ladies, and engaging the audience in a game-style Q&A. “When was the term ‘first lady’ first used?” asked Haddad. The question stumped the crowd but McBride, of course, had the answer: “At Dolley Madison’s funeral in 1849, President Zachary Taylor called her ‘the first lady of the land’ and the term stuck.”
At the end of the conversation, attendees raised a glass to former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, who passed away in November at the age of 96.
Guests included Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden; former Secretary of Transportation and Labor Elizabeth Dole; Irish Ambassador Geraldine Byrne Nason; Rep. Debbie Dingell; CBS Evening News anchor Norah O’Donnell; Stewart McLaurin, president of the White House Historical Association; Susan Page, Washington bureau chief for USA Today; jewelry designer Ann Hand, whose creations were famously worn by Hillary Clinton; Patricia Harrison, CEO of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting; Camille Johnston, former communications director to First Lady Michelle Obama; former U.S Chief of Protocol Capricia Marshall and many other distinguished figures from media, politics, and diplomacy.
McBride is currently an executive-in-residence at American University, where she directs the First Ladies Initiative. She is also co-author of the first-ever textbook on the role of the first lady – “U.S. First Ladies: Making History and Leaving Legacies.”
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