Dinner with the President: Food, Politics, and a History of Breaking Bread at the White House (Hardcover)

Food, drink, and politics are an ancient combination. In this well-researched and readable history Alex Prud'homme explores the ways that United States presidents have reflected their widely varying ambitions, priorities, and prejudices through what they ate, how they ate it, and with whom. Among the many books he has written, Prud'homme cowrote My Life in France with Julia Child, whose husband Paul was the twin brother of Prud'homme's grandfather. Julia helped shed light on White House dining practices with a 1968 television special about a state dinner for the Japanese prime minister. This was followed by another show  nine years later focused on a dinner for Elizabeth II. Inspired by Julia and Paul Child's research for those show Prud'homme began investigating the long history of presidential provender, examining how a chief executive reflected the times for better or worse and how food and drink were tools of diplomacy and power. In the eighteenth and nineteenth century, there are