White House Correspondents Insider

Today, The White House announced the nomination of Dr. Colleen Shogan, the White House Historical Association’s Director of the David M. Rubenstein National Center for White House History, as the next Archivist of the United States.

In a White House Historical Association Press Release, President of the Association, Stewart McLaurin said “Dr. Shogan is an extraordinary leader who has helped achieve our mission, begun more than 60 years ago, to promote the understanding, enjoyment, and appreciation of the White House in a non-partisan and education-based manner. She is a terrific colleague with vision, integrity, and principal. She will be an incredible archivist of the United States.”

Click here to read more about Colleen.

Ukrainian Ambassador Oksana Markarova, NYU Langone Department of Surgery Chair and Transplant Institute Director Dr. Robert Montgomery, who traveled to Lviv, Ukraine to perform life-saving surgeries, and CNN senior national security correspondent Alex Marquardt, who has just returned from Ukraine reporting from the frontlines of the Russian offensive, headlined a fundraiser along with State Department Spokesperson Ned Price for journalists covering the war in Ukraine on Thursday evening, July 28 in Washington, D.C to benefit the international non-profit organization Reporters Without Borders (RSF).

“We have brave men and women who put their lives on the line to tell the story of our fight to the world at a very high cost. We already lost 37 journalists in Ukraine just during this time. We have people like Alex [Marquardt] who are coming back to the city of Kharkiv, which is a frontline,” said Markarova told the crowd. “Thank you so much to you and all your colleagues and all the journalists who are here. Really, you are as brave and as heroic as all the Ukrainians who are fighting.”

Co-hosts included Washington Post reporters Yasmeen Abutaleb, Shane Harris, and editor Damian Paletta; NBC News Correspondent Yamiche Alcindor; News Media Alliance president and CEO David Chavern; Haddad Media CEO Tammy Haddad; ABC News chief Washington correspondent Jonathan Karl; New York Times correspondent Jonathan Martin, CBS News White House correspondent Steven Portnoy; MSNBC Host Stephanie Ruhle; and Axios Managing Editor Margaret Talev.

CNN’s award-winning senior national security correspondent Alex Marquardt, who was reporting from Mariupol, Ukraine on the day the Russian invasion began, has fearlessly led his network’s coverage of the war. “The resilience really was just stunning. And so, of course, was the journalism that has come out of Ukraine. I mean, we could not understand how historic and destructive this conflict is if we didn’t have people in Mykolaiv and in Mariupol and Luhansk and Donetsk provinces doing dangerous and difficult and expensive work,” said Marquardt. “There are countless freelancers, both international and Ukrainian, who need body armor. They need medical training, they need an Internet connection, they need financial support and eventually, they may also need psychological support.”

Famed transplant surgeon Dr. Robert Montgomery, chair of the Department of Surgery at NYU Langone Health and director of the NYU Langone Transplant Institute, who risked his own life by traveling to Ukraine in May to perform lifesaving surgeries at the Lviv Transplant Center, and has since raised $280,000 for essential operating room equipment for the center. “To walk through those ICUs and see the mangled bodies and minds that have occurred as a result of this. I think if we could take cameras, into hospitals, I think people would feel really differently about a lot of the tremendous human tragedies that have occurred,” said Dr. Montgomery.

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A portion of the funds went to equipping and staffing the RSF Press Freedom Centers in Lviv and Kiev, where reporters covering the war receive protective gear such as bullet-proof vests and helmets, safety training and psychological support.

Speakers at the event included:

“When Russia invaded Ukraine, we immediately knew that we had to be on the ground providing solutions to people. And so within days, we were ready to launch the Press Freedom Center in Lviv,” said Weimers. “So the Press Freedom Center is a hub through which we can channel all of our support directly to journalists covering the story on the ground.”

“So what does that support mean? … It’s meant 577 bulletproof vests, 489 helmets, 252 solar, solar battery packs, 101 first aid kits, 219 direct loans to media workers, fixers, journalists, reporters, as well as 200 loans to our partner on the ground, the Institute for Mass Information. We’re also providing safety courses for both digital security and physical security while you’re on the ground and we’re starting to provide mental health support services as well.”

Notable attendees: Rep. Debbie Dingell, Rep. Joaquin Castro, former Rep. Jane Harman, Jen Psaki, Daniel and Amy Koh, Jill Zuckman, Jessica Dean, Liz Johnson, Amanda McClements, Betsy Fischer Martin, Adrienne Elrod, Ali Rubin, Heather Podesta, Carol Melton, Mariel Saes, Rachel Levitan, Kevin Latek, Dan Myers, Brian Walsh, Jon Decker, Tyler Pager, Robin Goldman,  Dietrich von Klaeden, Matt Kaminski, Genna Gent and Michael Gonda, Jon Banner, Kenny Thompson, Lauren Pratapus and John Legittino, Kevin Baron, Francesca Chambers, Andrew Bates, Sean Savett, Mariel Saes, Michael Wilner, Michael Moroney, Ted Johnson, Nazanin Ash, Mario Parker, Racquel Krahenbuhl, Holly Page, Laurie McKay, Jane Oates, John O’Leary.

Click here TO DONATE.

PepsiCo, McDonald’s and the News Media Alliance sponsored this event.

The Hill – Inaugural DC Power Index Prize to honor Ukrainian ambassador, Capitol Police officer

Deadline – Launch of DC Power Index Prize to Honor Ukrainian Ambassador, Capitol Police Officer, Covid Bioethicist

Veteran Democratic Political Operative Lis Smith is making headlines today as POLITICO releases an excerpt from her new memoir, “Any Given Tuesday: A Political Love Story.“

She told her friends in a book email, “I was determined to demystify politics and serve as a guide to modern-day campaigning. If we do not bring more people into politics, Democracy could fail. It’s a book for Democrats and Republicans, political junkies and the apolitical- one that’s as fun as it is informative, and as irreverent as it is serious. “

Smith connoted, “I have shared these campaigns and crises with many of you but I think you will learn some things that you did not know. I did! I don’t spare any details or dish from behind the scenes, even about myself.“

All rise! White House Historical Association President Stewart D. McLaurin hosted a lunch for Tony award-winning director of To Kill a Mockingbird (playing at Kennedy Center until July 10) Bartlett Sher and his producer Cambra Overend at Decatur House on Wednesday. 

Sher also discussed the development of his new Broadway production of Camelot (debuting November 3rd) with Aaron Sorkin, his partner for To Kill a Mockingbird.

Sher and his producing partner Overend were last in Washington to screen the HBO Films version of their Broadway play, Oslo, which captured the story behind the historic 1993 South Lawn “Oslo handshake” between Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat, orchestrated by President Bill Clinton.

SPOTTED: Ambassador Rufus Gifford, opera singer Denyce Graves, Anita McBride, journalists Robert Costa, Abby Phillip, and Elisabeth Bumiller, and Sheila Burke, Patricia Harrison, Colleen Shogan, Karen Knutson, Senay Bulbul, Peggy Grande, Royce Dickerson and Tammy Haddad

Stewart D. McLaurin, President of the White House Historical Association (WHHA), launched a new monthly column with USA Today aimed at educating readers about White House history and its impact on Americans’ lives. USA Today named McLaurin to its Board of Contributors. 

“The White House stands as a symbol of freedom and democracy to billions of people around the world,” said McLaurin, “and this new column aims to inspire Americans and others across the globe to learn more about the rich history of the White House and its residents.”

First up: some clever insight and beautiful photos showing that when it comes to weddings, presidents and their families aren’t exactly like the rest of us. McLaurin addresses White House family weddings and receptions – and how presidential families throughout American history have balanced the intimacy of a family ceremony with the demands of living their lives in the public spotlight.

McLaurin points out that more than a dozen family weddings have been held at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Tricia Nixon was the first to have an outdoor wedding in the Rose Garden back in June 1971. President Joe Biden and Dr. Jill Biden will celebrate the wedding of their granddaughter at the White House this November.

“It’s hard to imagine any future White House family wedding being anything other than a national event,” McLaurin writes. “But it’s important to remember that at the center of each American presidency is a family, trying to fashion a life and find private moments on one of the world’s biggest stages.” 

Future USA Today columns will explore and connect White House history to current events and timeless themes in American life today.