FDR occasionally brought surprise guests to bear witness or participate. Eleanor joined the throngs from time to time, especially at Hyde Park, conspicuously occupying herself with her knitting. At one memorable 1941 session, White House visitor Winston Churchill joined FDR, the smoke from his trademark cigar intermingling with the plume from Roosevelt’s omnipresent Camel. At one point, though he seldom took press questions at home, the British prime minister even stood on a chair to field a few inquiries from the American correspondents.
