Long-time readers to this blog know how much I respect and admire Ron Chernow. Tonight the nation will have another reason to understand why he is an amazing historian and commentator on our times.
The White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) will host its annual dinner on Saturday, April 27, at 9:30 P.M. E.T with Ron Chernow as the speaker. C-SPAN will also live-stream the event on its website.
The headliner of this year’s White House correspondents’ dinner is not, by his own admission, funny.
Unlike previous guest stars, he is not known to sing, impersonate presidents or, as the Peiro Brothers did for President John F. Kennedy in 1961, juggle.
His name is Ron Chernow. He’s the best-selling author of several books, including a biography of Alexander Hamilton that was the inspiration for a hit Broadway play.
In turning to a writer of endnotes, not punchlines, the White House Correspondents’ Association is trying to refocus a dinner overrun by journalist-celebrity selfies and comedians whose controversial monologues have distracted from the dinner’s spirit of honoring journalists, celebrating the First Amendment and awarding scholarships.
“If journalism is the first draft of history, who better than to explain this moment than a historian?” said Olivier Knox, the association’s president. “Because of the success of ‘Hamilton’ the musical, I thought Chernow was at the intersection of scholarship and entertainment.”
CAFFEINATED POLITICS 