She did, however, host her first White House tea, at 5 p.m. on May 24. Bess Truman had never imagined any party quite like this one. Dozens of women—the wives of diplomats—converged, representing thirty-nine nations, including Bolivia, Cuba, Iran, Latvia, Paraguay, Thailand, and Russia. When Bess went to her bridge club to play cards with her friends for the first time since she had become First Lady, all the women rose and applauded when she entered the room. She felt humiliated. “Now stop it,” she said, “stop it this instant. Sit down, every darn one of you.”
