Theodore H. White
Cardinal Francis Spellman founded and hosted the first dinner in 1945 after Smith's death the previous year. By 1960 the Al Smith dinner had become a "ritual of American politics", in the words of Theodore H. White. It is generally the last event at which the two U.S. presidential candidates share a stage before the election. Apart from presidential candidates, keynote speakers have included Tony Blair, Tom Brokaw, Bob Hope, Henry Kissinger, Clare Boothe Luce, and many other prominent civic, business, and church leaders.