Who has hosted the White House Correspondents’ Dinner?

Today, journalists covering the White House, leaders, and other public officials will take to the Washington Hilton for the White Hour Correspondents’ Dinner (WHCD). The event has not been held in two years because of the pandemic and guests are eager to hear from comedian Trevor Noah to welcome them back. Due to the continued risk of covid-19, President Biden will attend for the speeches but skip the dinner portion of the evening.

This will be the first year since 2016 that a sitting president attends the WHCD.

During his time in office, Donald Trump skipped the event calling it “boring” and mean-spirited. Often a comedian performs a “roast” of the president, which Donald Trump was not interested in hearing.

In 2019, the organization which hosts the event, the White House Correspondents’ Association, stated that they would have a non-comedian perform if it meant President Trump would attend. The orgnaization invited historian and writer Ron Chernow to speak, but the former president still decided to skip the event.

A look back at past hosts

The dinner has taken place almost every year since 1920, and many of the nation’s top artists and performers have headlined the event.  However, it was not until 1944 that performers were invited as a source of entertainment. The first to ever perform were Bob Hope, Fritz Kreisler, Gracie Fields, Pedro Vargas, Fred Waring, Elsie Janis, Ed Gardiner, Nan Merriman, Robert Merrill, and Frank Black. Over the years the WHCA limited the number of performers and over the past three decades it has been typical that only one person be invited.

Over the years, men have tended to dominate the top performer spot. Only four women, Elayne Boosler, Wanda Sykes, Cecily Strong, and Michelle Wolfe, have ever been invited to perform, and the latter three have occured in the last two decades.

In part, this had to do with the fact that until the 1960s women were not allowed to attend the dinner. As president John F Kennedy said that unless female journalists were allowed to participate, he would not be going. Shortly after the announcement the WHCA changed the rule.

However, it would be another thirty years before a woman, comedian Elayne Boosler, was asked to perform in 1993. Curiously, 1993 also happened to be the year that the dinner was carried live by C-SPAN.

In more recent years, the show has been dominated by members of late-night comedy.

Michelle Wolfe (2018), Hasan Minhaj (2017), and Larry Wilmore (2016)  were both correspondents on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah.

In 2015 and 2011, Saturday Night Live cast members Cecily Strong and writer Seth Meyers performed. Some attribute Meyer’s set and jokes about Donald Trump as one of the former president’s motivations to run in 2016.

In 2012 and 2013, the show was hosted by late-night hosts Jimmy Kimmel and Conan O’Brien.

Who has hosted the dinner the most times?

The titleholder is Jen Leno, who has performed at the WHCD four times, 1987, 2000, 2004, and 2010. Leno has for the most part kept politics out of his comedy and was considered a safe choice for presidents of both political aisle