White House Correspondents’ Dinner: 11 Memorable Moments in History

1997: Jon Stewart Cajoles the Late Senator Kennedy

Jon Stewart’s 1997 speech took place before he was the host of The Daily Show, but the teenage comic made an impression with jokes like this zinger about the tardy senator Edward Kennedy. “I love Senator Kennedy. I think that guy’s the coolest. Although I do think he has kind of an enormous head. Honestly, it doesn’t even look like a head. It looks more like a container for a head.”

After one of his jokes received a particularly positive reaction from the audience, Stewart quipped, “One more like that, and maybe I’ll be able to go to the Vanity Fair party. Boy, that’s a tough ticket.”

2000: Bill Clinton’s Final Days

It’s not uncommon for presidents and comics to apply video clips as part of their WHCD routines. At his final correspondents’ dinner, former president Bill Clinton offered a pre-taped look into his final days, during which he trimmed hedges in the White House garden and otherwise moped around. It may have been the year 2000, but Clinton’s sweatpants are all 90s.

George W. Bush laughs with White House Correspondents’ Association President Ron Hutcheson as US First Lady Laura Bush takes to the podiumPhoto by Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images.

2005: Laura Bush Is Tired of “Quietly Sitting There”

At 2005’s dinner, First Lady Laura Bush interrupted George Bush’s speech and started off with a bang: “Ladies and gentlemen, I’ve been attending these dinners for years, and just quietly sitting there. Well, I’ve got a few things I want to say for a change.” The First Lady then savagely roasted her husband, calling him an early sleeper who couldn’t be bothered to stay up tardy enough to “end tyranny.”

“Nine o’clock, Mr. Excitement here is sound asleep, and I’m watching Desperate Housewives,” she continued, “with Lynne Cheney. Ladies and gentlemen, I am a desperate housewife.”