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Jon Meacham SRO at The Jefferson Hotel

November 22, 2015 By WHC Insider

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The Jefferson Hotel, Washington Women Technology Network, an interview with Jon Meacham

The Jefferson Hotel, Washington Women Technology Network, an interview with Jon Meacham

Pulitzer prize-winning biographer Jon Meacham packed in admirers at a Washington Women Technology Network “Cocktails and Conversation” gathering on Friday, November 20th at The Jefferson Hotel in Washington, DC.

Meacham’s new biography, Destiny and Power: The American Odyssey of George Herbert Walker Bush, is already a New York Times Bestseller. Meachan spent 17 years writing the book with access to President Bush’s personal diaries. He interviewed the president many times over the years, his family, colleagues and political enemies. Meacham’s previous biography of President Andrew Jackson, American Lion, won him the Pulitzer Prize.

Meacham, a Washington favorite, began his writing career at The Washington Monthly and became the youngest Newsweek editor where he created legendary covers and controverises with politicians and people of all stripes. He is currently and editor at Random House.

Co-hosted by Connie Milstein, co-founder of Dog Tag Bakery, Democratic commentator Hilary Rosen,and Julie Goon from Anthem, the crowd watched Megan Murphy, Bloomberg Bureau Chief and Tammy Haddad, WHCInsider editor, interview Meacham as he discussed the decades of public service and political moments that made President Bush’s career. It was an insider’s inside conversation detailing their triumph’s and disappointments. The interview will be uploaded to WHCInsider.com next week.

The Friday afternoon crowd included politicos and media. Stephanie Cutter, Neera Tanden, Holly Page, Kelley McCormick, Jill Zuckman, Jennifer Maguire, Ceci Connelly, Emily Lenzer and David Chavern. Long time Obama White House aides Ferial Govashiri and Ellie Schafer and the State department’s Nick Schmit.

Stpehanie Cutter, Hilary Rosen, Neera Tanden

Obama White House aide Ferial Govashiri and former Laura Bush CoS Anita McBride

Obama White House aide Ferial Govashiri and former Laura Bush CoS Anita McBride

Bushies including Anita McBride, whose husband Tom McBride, was a longtime personal aide to President Bush.

Journalists seen were James Hohmann, Glenn Thrush, Hadas Gold, Ruth Marcus, Henry Schuster, Jackie Kucinich and Carl Cannon from Real Clear Politics.

Filed Under: President George Bush, The White House, Uncategorized, WWTN Tagged With: Anita McBride, Hilary Rosen, Jon Meacham, Kelley McCormick, Megan Murphy, Neera Tanden, President George Bush, President Obama, Stephanie Cutter, Washington Women Technology Network

Junior Prom or Memorable Moment: The Radio Television Correspondents Association Dinner

June 18, 2009 By WHC Insider

Just because some in the Washington press corps refer to it as “Junior Prom” doesn’t mean the Radio & Television Correspondents Association Dinner hasn’t had its share of memorable moments.

Washington Honors Media At Radio And Television Correspondents Dinner

President George Bush at 2008 RTCA Dinner

In 2008, even its entertainer/host Mo Rocca dissed the RTCA dinner, calling it the Nicky (Hilton) to the White House Correspondent Dinner’s Paris. And indeed the White House Correspondents’ Dinner (aka “Senior Prom”) in recent years has bigger celebrities (the likes of Ozzy Osbourne, Pamela Anderson, Ben Affleck and Mariska Hargitay), more of them and more-buzzed about pre- and post-parties.  Check out some of the pics from last year here.

The RTCA dinner is now in its 65th year. It’s Hollywood quotient in the last decade was mostly limited to activist actors Ron Silver and Al Franken and hip hop mogul Russell Simmons, although Jon Voight and Fran Drescher also put in appearances. But it has a recent history of making headlines from the stage; highlights (lowlights?) include entertainer Don Imus’ raunchy jokes about President Bill Clinton’s personal life in 1996, a major PR gaffe by President George W. Bush in 2004, and, in 2007, a bizarre rappin’ “MC [Karl] Rove.” And unlike the Gridiron Club’s annual dinner, the RTCA’s, which in recent years has been held at the Washington Hilton, is open to TV cameras.

Once upon a time, the tables were switched: Radio and television correspondents worked for richer news organizations and were better paid than their print colleagues and many were glamorous stars in their own right, giving their dinner the higher profile of the two. In 1987, however, the Baltimore Sun’s Michael Kelly started inviting the likes of Fawn Hall and Donna Rice to the White House Correspondents’ dinner and the competition was on.

The Washington Post’s Kim Masters called Mr. Imus’ appearance in 1996 “a roast that turned into an inferno.” The radio shock jock, as President Clinton and First Lady Hillary Clinton sat just feet away, joked that: “When Cal Ripkin broke Lou Gherig’s consecutive game record, the president was at Camden Yards doin’ play by play in the radio with John Miller. Bobby Bonilla hit a double, we all heard the President in his obvious excitement holler ‘Go Baby!’ I remember commenting at the time, I bet that’s not the first time he’s said that. Remember the Astroturf in the pickup?”

He also poked fun at ABC News’ Peter Jennings (who wasn’t there) and CBS News’ Dan Rather (who was.)

Don Imus Appears On Al Sharpton Radio Show

Don Imus

[Read more…]

Filed Under: News Media, rtca dinner, Washington Events Tagged With: Dan Rather, Dick Cheney, Don Imus, Karl Rove, Leonardo DiCaprio, Peter Jennings, President Bill Clinton, President George Bush, Radio Television Correspondents Association Dinner

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About White House Correspondents Insider

Exploring “behind the scenes” of the most powerful city in the world — Washington, D.C. — and those who cover it.

We track the White House Correspondents’ weekend and all the activities around it, from journalists and media companies to the White House and politicos.

Tammy Haddad is Co-Founder and Editor-In-Chief of WHC Insider and CEO of Haddad Media.

White House Correspondents Insider is not affiliated with or approved by the White House Correspondents’ Association, which is a registered trademark of the WHCA.

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