Historian Ron Chernow Urges D.C. to Find Humor in Politics at White House Correspondents' Dinner

Historian Ron Chernow says presidents have always had differences with the press, but “they don’t need to be steeped in venom.”

Chernow was the featured speaker at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner Saturday night. The author of “Alexander Hamilton” represented a major change for the dinner, which in recent years has hired comedians as speakers.

President Donald Trump has refused to attend during his time in office and has called the media “enemies of the people.”

Chernow says “relations between presidents and the press are inevitably tough, almost always adversarial.”

In fact, he says, President George Washington also felt maligned and misunderstood by the press, but he never generalized that into a vendetta.

Chernow put the current climate in further historical context: "We've seen past administrations threaten the press directly, whether it be Lincoln shutting down disloyal papers during the Civil War, or Woodrow Wilson stifling dissent with the Espionage Act in World War I. But what is happening today is perhaps even more insidious -- a relentless campaign against the very credibility of the news media. Even the smartest courtroom lawyers can't defend the press against such vague and sweeping attacks. You folks can only preserve that hard-won credibility in one way -- with solid, fair-minded, accurate, and energetic reporting."

He also opined on the importance of journalists to democratic culture:

"Now, you folks in the media write the early drafts of history and we historians the later ones. Your work gives freshener, and color, and immediacy to our sagas. I know how embattled you feel at this critical juncture as you combat the mistrust of a significant portion of the American electorate. I think you do noble work to preserve democracy at a time when a rising tide of misinformation masquerading as news threatens to make a mockery of the First Amendment."

Chernow concluded the speech with a joke. “As we head into an election season, I leave you with one final gem from (Mark) Twain,” he said.

“Politicians and diapers must be changed often and for the same reason. Good night and God bless America.”

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