At the height of the Cold War, the U.S. government was determined to fight Communism with culture. The Venice Biennale, one of the world’s most influential art exhibitions, became a proving ground in 1964. Alice Denney, Washington insider and friend of the Kennedys, recommended Alan Solomon, an ambitious curator making waves with trailblazing art, to organize the U.S. entry. Together with Leo Castelli, a powerful New York art dealer, they embarked on a daring plan to make Robert Rauschenberg the winner of the Grand Prize. The artist was yet to be taken seriously with his combinations of junk off the street and images from pop culture, but he had the potential to dazzle. Deftly pulling off maneuvers that could have come from a Hollywood thriller, the American team left the international press crying foul and Rauschenberg questioning the politics of nationalism that sent him there.