Joseph Verner Reed Jr., Protocol Chief Who Presided Over Colorful Gaffe, Dies at 78 While under President George Bush, Mr. Reed was part of ‘the talking hat’ affair, a slip-up that entered the annals of diplomatic history. Share: Facebook Twitter Google+ Stumble Digg Email ThisBlogThis!Share to XShare to Facebook Related Posts:Death Toll in Colombia Mudslide Tops 230 as Rescuers Race to Find Survivors20 Are Hacked and Beaten to Death at Pakistan ShrineCanada Journal: 2 Survivors of Canada’s First Quintuplet Clan Reluctantly Re-emergeAt Least 9 Civilians Killed as Coalition Strikes Taliban Arsenal, Officials SayAsia and Australia Edition: Xi Jinping, Ivanka Trump, Colombia: Your Morning BriefingCambodia Appeals to Trump to Forgive War-Era Debt