The White House Correspondents' Dinner is held in 1923. It was started two years earlier by the White House Correspondents' Association, the organization of journalists who cover the president. In 1924, Calvin Coolidge became the first president to attend the dinner.
Library of Congress
President Franklin D. Roosevelt, seated, shakes hands with Raymond P. Brandt, chief of the Washington bureau of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, at the 1945 dinner. Roosevelt was congratulating Brandt for winning the first Raymond Clapper Memorial Award, which was given by the White House Correspondents' Association for distinguished reporting.
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President Harry Truman, second from left, presents a $500 check to Peter Edson, second from right, for winning the Raymond Clapper Memorial Award in 1949.
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Legendary golfer Bobby Jones, left, presents a duplicate of his famous putter, Calamity Jane, to President Dwight D. Eisenhower at the dinner in 1959. In the center is Felix Belair Jr. of The New York Times.
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President Richard Nixon shakes hands with US Navy Lt. Cmdr. John McCain at the dinner in 1973. Just a month earlier, McCain had been released from a Vietnamese prison after being a prisoner of war for over five years.
National Archives
Until 1962, the correspondents' dinner was open to just men. President John F. Kennedy, center, refused to attend until it was opened to women.
John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum
President Gerald Ford, right, speaks with comedian Chevy Chase, left, in 1976. Chase famously portrayed Ford as clumsy on "Saturday Night Live." Between the two, from left, are "Saturday Night Live" creator Lorne Michaels and cast members Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi.
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Ford laughs with Helen Thomas, a White House correspondent with United Press International, at the 1975 dinner. Thomas was the first female president of the White House Correspondents' Association.
National Archives
President Jimmy Carter and first lady Rosalynn Carter chat with Paul Healy, right, of the New York Daily News and Lawrence O'Rourke, left, of the Philadelphia Bulletin as they arrive to the dinner in 1977. Healy was the new president of the White House Correspondents' Association, and O'Rourke was its outgoing president.
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At the 1987 dinner, President Ronald Reagan called up his wife, Nancy, to say a few kind words to the press. After a pause she responded, "I'm thinking."
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President George H.W. Bush laughs while watching Jim Morris do an impression of him at the 1989 dinner.
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President Bill Clinton holds a placard proclaiming, "Don't blame me. I voted for me," at the dinner in 1996. Clinton was auditioning some potential slogans for bumper stickers.
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Clinton high-fives a "clone" of him played by actor Darrell Hammond in 1997.
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President George W. Bush conducts the Marine Corps Band during the dinner in 2008.
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Comedian Keegan-Michael Key plays President Barack Obama's "anger translator" Luther in 2015.
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Donald Trump and his wife, Melania, attend the correspondents' dinner in 2015. They didn't attend any of the dinners while he was president.
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Obama drops the mic after speaking at his last correspondents' dinner in 2016. "Obama out," he said.
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President Joe Biden speaks with Trevor Noah, host of Comedy Central's "The Daily Show," in 2022. The dinner had returned after a two-year hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
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President Joe Biden speaks while wearing sunglasses at the correspondents' dinner in 2023.
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