
Suzanne DeChillo, photographer, who shot Clinton for the New York Times in Washington on Jan. 31, 1993: “This is Hillary in the famous ‘Cold Shoulder’ dress designed by Donna Karan. During a hectic day before the Clintons hosted their first official dinner at the White House in 1993 – for a brief moment she relaxed and smiled. As first lady, she generated a lot of comment with her dress, her role in health care reform or whether she baked cookies.
As a staff photographer for the New York Times, I was assigned to photograph a food story about Hillary Clinton preparing for the first dinner in the State Dining Room. The writer Marian Burros got a scoop that the new first lady was banning smoking at the White House beginning with removing the ashtrays from the tables in the State Dining Room. Suddenly I was shooting for two different stories, a photographer’s nightmare. We needed a dynamite photo of Hillary and of the marinated shrimp. I spent over 12 hours photographing in the White House. Not only did the Times need several pix of Hillary, but I photographed the White House chef, the pastry chef, the flower arranger, preparations of the smoked marinated shrimp, the Reagan red chinaware and the toast at the banquet for the governors.
The Times‘ front-page smoking ban story ran with a pix of Hillary fussing with the table setting with a portrait of Abraham Lincoln looking down on her. The ‘Cold Shoulder’ picture ran days later in a story with comments on her dress. As First Lady, she generated a lot of comment with that dress, her role in health care reform or whether she baked cookies. In the end, no one complained about the smoking ban. And now, I read that the dress is one of her favorites.”

I still remember that silly First Lady cookie-baking controversy! Cool story and photo. Happy President’s Day to you too!
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Yes, it was totally silly. Thank you so much and same to you! Just followed your website as well!
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Thank you!!
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You’re most welcome!
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