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Esther Coopersmith has met every president since Harry Truman.
In fact, her first date with her husband was at a dinner for Truman.
The former U.S. Representative to the U.N. and longtime Democratic fundraiser recalls it didn’t go well.
“Jack had these visions of this huge lavish dinner, when it was horrible salad and chicken and lots of speeches, he was disappointed -- he loved food,” Coopersmith said. “Needless to say, we started dating soon after that.”
Coopersmith, originally from a small town in Wisconsin, was born to Russian and Romanian parents. She moved to Washington, D.C., after college. She met her husband, Jack, at a tea dance through a friend. “He was very sweet and had an office right around the corner from mine,” she said.
Jack Coopersmith, a real estate mogul, was born in D.C. and Coopersmith, a passionate Democrat, noted: “If he hadn’t met me he would have been Republican.”
Coopersmith has seen plenty of comings and goings in Washington over the years but said the biggest change she’s noticed is the disappearance of bipartisanship. “Lyndon Johnson [D-Texas] would sit in the [Senate] gallery with [then-Sen.] Everett Dirksen [R-Ill.] and argue for hours, but afterwards, they’d go have a drink together,” she said.
But she tries to bring people together.
The former representative to the U.N. under President Carter hosts a tea every year to help ambassadors’s wives learn more about the city and make new friends.
She’s always stayed involved with political spouses.
“One of the things I’d always do was take senator’s wives on trips around the world,” said Coopersmith. “I remember Nancy Murkowski saying to me, if it wasn’t for you Esther, I wouldn’t know any Democrats!”
She briefly considered running for office, but after her second child was born she decided against it.
Coopersmith, who walks with the aid of a purple and pink cane, is now more involved in philanthropy.
She does a lot of work with UNESCO, a U.N. group that encourages international peace and universal respect by promoting collaboration among nations.
Her home in Washington’s Embassy row is filled with political memorabilia. Her sitting room, painted a dark maroon, boasts an almost miniature museum of sorts, with framed photos of Coopersmith with presidents, senators, kings and queens. She is in front of the White House for some, in her own home in others.  The Democratic fundraiser had Republican friends too. Laura Bush gave her a painting of the White House and Ronald Reagan gave her jellybeans.
Some of her favorite Washington parties include the Multiple Sclerosis Ball, which she is very involved in, as well as the Meridian Ball.
Coopersmith also has hosted fundraisers for a variety of political figures, including the Clintons and Vice President Joe Biden.
When she hosted a dinner for then-President Bill Clinton, his motorcade caused so many problems for her neighbors she joked: “I had to tell President Clinton he couldn’t come to my house as president.”
 She added: “I peered out the door and was shocked that the street was closed and there were fire engines and cars everywhere- -- my neighbors weren’t too happy with me that night.”
Coopersmith wishes that there would be less talk about Tareq and Michaele Salahi crashing the Indian Prime Minister’s state dinner. She’s attended several White House events and said she could sympathize with the Obama administration.
“I could understand the confusion, especially since Michaele Salahi looked the part,” she said. “The second state dinner will be much better, I guarantee that, the first one is always hard.”
Still, Coopersmith said she finds the fact that the Salahis got through security shocking. “Every other time I’ve been at the White House I’ve always showed I.D. multiple times,” she said.
With all the stories Coopersmith has acquired over the years, she said that many people have asked her if she’d ever write a book. “I always say, I like to keep my friends!” she joked.
Jack Coopersmith died in 1991. The Coopersmiths have four children and seven grandchildren.
Her best advice to those who wish to follow in her footsteps is to make yourself valuable. “Open your heart, it’s a lot easier to be nice than to be difficult,” she said.
— Kate Oczypok
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