White House Correspondents' Dinner
The WHCA's annual dinner, begun in 1920, has become a Washington, D.C. tradition and is usually attended by the President and Vice President. Fifteen presidents have attended at least one WHCA dinner, beginning with Calvin Coolidge in 1924. The dinner is traditionally held on the evening of the last Saturday in April at the Washington Hilton.
Until 1962, the dinner was open only to men, even though WHCA's membership included women. At the urging of Helen Thomas, President John F. Kennedy refused to attend the dinner unless the ban on women was dropped.
Prior to World War II, the annual dinner featured singing between courses, a homemade movie and an hour-long, post-dinner show with big-name performers. Since 1983, however, the featured speaker has usually been a comedian, with the dinner taking on the form of a roast of the President and his administration.
Many annual dinners were cancelled or downsized due to deaths or political crises. The dinner was cancelled in 1930 due to the death of former president William Howard Taft; in 1942, following the United States' entry into World War II; and in 1951, over what President Truman called the "uncertainty of the world situation."
Read more about this topic: White House Correspondents' Association
Famous quotes containing the words white house, white, house and/or dinner:
“A funny thing happened to me on the way to the White House.”
—Adlai Stevenson (1900–1965)
“No more the white refulgent streets,
Never the dry hollows of the mind
Shall he in fine courtesy walk
Again, for death is not unkind.”
—Allen Tate (1899–1979)
“In front of a widow’s house is a sure spot for trouble.”
—Chinese proverb.
“At a dinner party one should eat wisely but not too well, and talk well but not too wisely.”
—W. Somerset Maugham (1874–1966)