The Al Smith Dinner is such a feature of the social and political landscape in the US Northeast that there was an episode about it in the TV political drama The West Wing. The episode centres on two presidential nominees both experiencing trepidation about attending the Archdiocese of New York’s charitable event, but ultimately deciding to attend.
The society event is famed for being attended by leading politicians from the main US political parties who come together to poke fun at themselves and each other as they trade usually light-hearted barbs in the speeches they give during the dinner.
