America's Largest Catholic Newspaper
Hillary Clinton and Donald J. Trump will be the speakers for this year’s 71st annual Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner, to be held on the evening of Thursday, Oct. 20, in the Grand Ballroom of New York’s Waldorf-Astoria Hotel.
The presidential nominees will share the dais with Cardinal Dolan, and they will deliver the evening’s keynote speeches in the spirit of collegiality and good humor that has become a hallmark of the gala.
In keeping with the longstanding tradition of the foundation’s signature event, the evening offers the nominees an opportunity to come together with the country’s most prominent civic, business and religious leaders to support charities and educational institutions that serve New York’s neediest children.
The dinner is dedicated to the memory of Alfred E. Smith, a former governor of New York, who in 1928 became the first Catholic to be nominated by a major political party as a candidate for president of the United States.
He was known as “The Happy Warrior” for his ability to maintain his positive outlook even as he tackled the pressing social issues of his day.
Over seven decades, the delivery of keynote addresses by presidential candidates has become a mainstay at the dinner. Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Trump will join an illustrious list of political dignitaries, cultural leaders and presidential candidates who have served as speakers, including John F. Kennedy, Winston Churchill, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Ronald Reagan, Barack Obama, Tony Blair, Colin Powell, Tim Russert and Stephen Colbert.
Last year’s speaker was former Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Cardinal Dolan, as Archbishop of New York, will preside at the dinner. Speakers often share self-deprecating humor as well as timely messages about the moral imperative of the foundation’s mission.
