trend had started in the 1930s, when Democratic Party chairman James A. Farley established a command post there. During the 1932, 1936, 1940, 1944, and 1948 U.S. presidential elections, the Democratic National Committee operated its national campaign out of the Biltmore Hotel. Democratic presidential candidate Franklin D. Roosevelt also had his national campaign headquarters there in 1932, 1936, and 1940. The Democratic Party occupied all of the hotel's second floor until 1962. Employees frequently referred to Farley, merchant Bernard F. Gimbel, and boxer Gene Tunney as part of "the Order of the Biltmore Baths" because they frequented the hotel's Turkish baths. At the time of the Biltmore's closure in 1981, several prominent Democrats still occupied offices on the mezzanine, including Tammany Hall chief Carmine DeSapio and former New York Democratic Party chairman Michael H. Prendergast. Events Soon after the Biltmore opened, it began hosting annual events, including New York Hotel Men's Association parties, Old Guard balls, and National Horse Show dinners. Additionally, in 1915, Henry Ford tried to broker a truce agreement to halt World War I while headquartered at the Biltmore. On August 4, 1916, the Treaty of the Danish West Indies was signed at the hotel, which transferred possession of the Danish West Indies, now the United States Virgin Islands, from Denmark to the United States. Other events at the hotel included a 1915 luncheon in honor of U.S. president Woodrow Wilson; a 1931 dinner in which the main ballroom was decorated to resemble the horse-racing track at Belmont Park; and a 1936 luncheon in honor of Madison Avenue's centennial. From May 6 to 11, 1942, the hotel was the location of the Biltmore Conference, a meeting of Zionist groups that produced the Biltmore Program, a series of demands regarding Palestine. Soviet president Nikita Khrushchev and industrialist Cyrus S. Eaton ate lunch at the hotel in 1960, drawing widespread protests. In its later years, the Biltmore largely hosted conventions, such as a biennial convention of the American Jewish Congress. See also List of former hotels in Manhattan References Citations Sources External links 335 Madison official website Company Building website Architectural Record article (1912) 1912 establishments in New York City Bowman-Biltmore Hotels Defunct hotels in Manhattan Grand Central Terminal Hotel buildings completed in 1912 Hotels established in 1913 Railway hotels in the United States Warren and Wetmore buildings