Chief Financial Officers' Dinner

Chief Financial Officers from Walpole member brands are invited to join Sarah Churchwell, author of Behold America: A history of America First and the American dream, for dinner at The Goring. Wednesday 30th May 6.30pm - 10pm The Goring, 15 Beeston Place, Westminster, London SW1W 0JW

Donald Trump and America First | In conversation with  Sarah Churchwell

Donald Trump opened his presidential campaign by proclaiming “Sadly, the American dream is dead”, and began his term in the White House by pledging that “from this moment on, it’s going to be America First”. The implication that he alone could revive the ‘American dream’ and ‘make American great again’ continues to be so compelling to the US electorate that in polls earlier this month, the most controversial US President in a generation had an approval rating of 88% from Republican voters, and an overall popularity rating of 43.6%. Yet these two contentious phrases have a long and complicated history in the US. Does their resurgence under Trump have uncomfortable things to say about the ideology of the Trump presidency? Do these terms need to be understood afresh so that the true spirit of America can be reclaimed? Above all, what does America stand for in the 21st century? At this year's Walpole CFO Dinner, Sarah Churchwell, author of Behold, America; A History of America First and the American dream will discuss her book, and take us into the heart of the battle for the identity of modern America. Sarah Churchwell is Professor of American Literature and Chair of Public Understanding of the Humanities at the School of Advanced Study, University of London. She is the author of Careless People: Murder, Mayhem and The Invention of The Great Gatsby and The Many Lives of Marilyn Monroe. Her literary journalism has appeared widely in newspapers including the Guardian, New Statesman, Financial Times, Times Literary Supplement and New York Times Book Review, and she comments regularly on arts, culture, and politics for television and radio, where appearances include Question Time, Newsnight and The Review Show. She has judged many literary prizes, including the 2017 Baillie Gifford Prize for Nonfiction, the 2014 Man Booker Prize for Fiction, and she was a co-winner of the 2015 Eccles British Library Writer's Award. Her new book, Behold, America: A History of America First and the American Dream, is published by Bloomsbury in May 2018.