|
05-01-2017, 07:09 AM
|
|
n/a
|
|
Join Date: n/a
Posts: n/a
|
|
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Guest
I'm asking a question because I don't know the answer. Have news correspondents had these comedy shows about presidents for a long time or is it something new? When did it start if the answer is known? Who was the first President to be kidded around with? It was very interesting to see the one fellow making jokes of our President. If I was in charge I would check his paperwork to be in our country legally immediately. Don't be offended, he made a joke so did I. I wonder who was covering his customer service spot at Dell while he was playing Don Rickles???
|
White House Correspondents' Association - Wikipedia
It gives the answers a few paragraphs down.
Quote:
White House Correspondents' Dinner[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to White House Correspondents' Association dinner.
The WHCA's annual dinner, begun in 1921,[4] has become a Washington, D.C. tradition and is traditionally attended by the president and vice president.[1] Fifteen presidents have attended at least one WHCA dinner, beginning with Calvin Coolidge in 1924.[1] 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.[5]
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.[1] 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.
The dinner is a scholarship benefit for gifted students in college journalism programs.[citation needed]
Many annual dinners have been 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 Harry S. Truman called the "uncertainty of the world situation."[6] In 1981, Ronald Reagan did not attend because he was recuperating after the attempted assassination on his life the previous month.[7] Donald Trump eschewed the 2017 dinner in favor of a political rally in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, at which he continued his established practice of disparaging media organizations such as The New York Times, CNN, and MSNBC.[8]
|
|