Leonore Annenberg
The society hostess who was U.S. chief of protocol
The society hostess who was U.S. chief of protocol
Leonore Annenberg
1918-2009
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Reared by Hollywood royalty and married to magnates who made her a billionaire, Leonore “Lee” Annenberg was 63 when she assumed what she called “the first paying job I ever had”—chief of protocol under President Ronald Reagan. Annenberg, who died last week at 91, was also a major philanthropist, dispensing more than $4 billion to cultural, educational, and medical institutions.
The daughter of Maxwell Cohn, “the less successful brother of Harry and Jack Cohn, founders of Columbia Pictures,” Lee lost her mother to a car accident when she was 7, said The Philadelphia Inquirer, and was raised by her Uncle Harry. Within a few years of graduating from Stanford University, she had married three times: to parking-lot scion Belden Katleman; to Lewis Rosenstiel, the multimillionaire founder of the distiller Schenley Industries; and finally, in 1951, to Walter Annenberg, then the owner of The Philadelphia Inquirer, TV Guide, and other media properties.
Immensely wealthy, the Annenbergs were lavish entertainers, said the Los Angeles Times. At their 32,000-square-foot Rancho Mirage, Calif., mansion, “Sunnylands,” they hosted many leading show business figures and politicians, among them Gregory Peck, Sammy Davis Jr., Frank Sinatra, and Richard Nixon. For Walter Annenberg’s loyalty, Nixon appointed him U.S. ambassador to the Court of St. James in 1969; the appointment lasted until Nixon’s resignation in 1974. Then, in 1981, his wife seized the chance to become chief of protocol under her old friend Ronald Reagan, stunning those who wondered why she would rather “wrangle over diplomatic ceremony” than pursue a life of leisure.
After confirmation by a 96–0 Senate vote, the “porcelain-skinned, meringue-blond hostess” promptly “rolled up her Bill Blass sleeves,” said The New York Times. As the country’s chief “envoy for etiquette,” Annenberg managed visits for heads of state, arranged overseas presidential visits, accredited ambassadors, and performed many other tasks. “But she was a headstrong and unorthodox ambassador, and soon ran into headwinds.” The White House objected when she fired several staffers, “including a favored son of the actors James and Pamela Mason.” Annenberg also raised eyebrows for curtsying to Prince Charles on U.S. soil, a display that many thought overly deferential. Annenberg resigned from the post after 11 months.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
For her last 20 years, Lee Annenberg focused her attention on her husband’s namesake philanthropic foundation, which he founded in 1989 and whose beneficiaries include the Philadelphia Orchestra, the University of Pennsylvania, and the Reagan Presidential Library. She is survived by two daughters, one each from her first two marriages. Walter Annenberg died in 2002.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
What is cloud seeding and did it cause Dubai's severe rainfall?
The Explainer The future is flooded
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published
-
American Airlines pilots are warning of a 'significant spike' in safety issues
In the Spotlight The pilot's union listed 'problematic trends' they say are affecting the airline's fleet
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
6 star-spangled presidential libraries to visit
The Week Recommends These institutions provide insight into American leaders
By Catherine Garcia, The Week US Published
-
Benjamin Zephaniah: trailblazing writer who 'took poetry everywhere'
Why Everyone's Talking About Remembering the 'radical' wordsmith's 'wit and sense of mischief'
By The Week UK Published
-
Shane MacGowan: the unruly former punk with a literary soul
Why Everyone's Talking About The Pogues frontman died aged 65
By The Week UK Published
-
'Euphoria' star Angus Cloud dies at 25
Speed Read
By Catherine Garcia Published
-
Legendary jazz and pop singer Tony Bennett dies at 96
Speed Read
By Devika Rao Published
-
Martin Amis: literary wunderkind who ‘blazed like a rocket’
feature Famed author, essayist and screenwriter died this week aged 73
By The Week Staff Published
-
Gordon Lightfoot, Canadian folk legend, is dead at 84
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Barry Humphries obituary: cerebral satirist who created Dame Edna Everage
feature Actor and comedian was best known as the monstrous Melbourne housewife and Sir Les Patterson
By The Week Staff Published
-
Mary Quant obituary: pioneering designer who created the 1960s look
feature One of the most influential fashion designers of the 20th century remembered as the mother of the miniskirt
By The Week Staff Published