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White House Correspondents' Association
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The White House Correspondents' Association is an organization of journalists who cover the President of the United States. The association works with the presidential administration on issues regarding coverage and logistics. The WHCA was founded in 1914 after journalists objected to an unfounded rumor that a Congressional committee would select which journalists could attend press conferences of President Woodrow Wilson.
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The WHCA's annual dinner, begun in 1920, has become a Washington DC tradition and is usually attended by the President and Vice President. Thirteen presidents have attended a WHCA dinner, beginning with Calvin Coolidge in 1924. The dinner is held on the evening of the last Saturday in April.
In recent years the featured speaker has often been a comedian, with the dinner taking on the form of a roast, especially of the President. This has been expanded to include short films involving the speaker or the President. Performers have included Nat King Cole, Dizzy Gillespie, Bob Hope, James Cagney, Barbra Streisand, Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington, Al Franken, Rich Little, Mark Russell, and Jay Leno.
Notable dinners include:
Performers included Frank Sinatra, Danny Thomas, Jimmy Durante, Fanny Brice and Danny Kaye.
President Richard Nixon personally requested the Disneyland Golden Horseshoe Revue.
Rich Little and President Ronald Reagan dual press conference skit
Aretha Franklin, entertainment (NBC's Brian Williams in skit)
Outgoing President Bill Clinton mocked himself in the short film President Clinton: Final Days, which depicted him as a lonely man closing down a nearly-deserted White House, riding a bicycle, and learning about the internet with the help of actor Michael Maronna as his character "Stuart".
Darrell Hammond and "Survivor" spoof
Drew Carey (singer Ozzy Osbourne also attended)
Ray Charles, entertainment
Cedric the Entertainer, plus some jokes by First Lady Laura Bush.
The featured speaker was Stephen Colbert in his on-screen persona as a satire of a right-wing cable television pundit. Several of Bush's aides and supporters walked out during Colbert's speech, and one former aide said that the President had "that look that he's ready to blow." [1] Bush mocked himself with the help of a celebrity impersonator, Steve Bridges. Many bloggers would criticize the fact that most news sources focused on Bush and his impersonator, and devoted little space to Colbert, sometimes not even mentioning him at all.[2]
The 2007 dinner will take place on April 21. The entertainer this year is scheduled to be celebrity impersonator Rich Little.