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On Saturday, April 26, 1947, the temperature in Washington, D.C., crept toward 70 degrees, and the magnolias and azaleas were in bloom. Taking little pleasure in the gorgeous weather, however, were those in a somber parade of the city’s most prominent citizens, which included a senator, a newspaper publisher, and even a Supreme Court justice.
They were paying a last visit to their friend Evalyn Walsh McLean, for almost 50 years one of the most exuberant and eccentric figures of Washington society. A stunning figure even into old age, with her tiny waist and chic dresses from Paris couture houses, Evalyn had also been the city’s most extravagant hostess. Her parties had sometimes featured three orchestras and as many as 2,000 guests, among whom were the president, Cabinet members, and diplomats.
Evalyn had married into the family that owned The Washington Post, and she bought the Hope diamond, the largest dark-blue diamond in the world. Yet she never put on airs, and she never lost the rough-hewn pioneer accent of the Colorado mining camps where she had been raised. Her idea of fun was shooting craps at the local police precinct and letting her Great Dane wear her fabulous jewelry. Although she had been, at different times in her life, an alcoholic and a morphine addict, she was a compassionate woman, who threw herself into such disparate endeavors as rescuing the homeless during blizzards and trying to get back the kidnapped Lindbergh baby.
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