President Barack Obama is skipping the Gridiron Club’s annual dinner on March 21, putting him in the same company as 1880s President Grover Cleveland.
Obama will be the first president since Cleveland not to attend the first Gridiron dinner of his 
presidency.
The Gridiron Club, formed in 1885, is an old institution and its members include many of Washington’s most prestigious journalists. While VIP guests dine, the journalists put on gawdy costumes and sing songs in a roast of politicians that promises to “singe but not burn.”
Obama is unable to attend because his two daughters will be out of school on spring break and he and his wife, Michelle, are taking them out of town.
Vice President Joe Biden is to sub for Obama and will speak, the Club has been told.
Last year, then-President George W. Bush brought the house down by donning a cowboy hat and singing in a voice that was not as off-key as might be imagined.
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Photo credit: Reuters/White House (Portrait of Cleveland)
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9 comments so far
Grover Cleveland was a pretty lousy president best known for the Panic of 1893, one of the worst economic depressions in American history. Looks like Obama is well on his way to repeating the feat.
- Posted by JoeJoe: Given the HUGE mess that Pres. Bush placed at Pres. Obama’s feet, I really do not see where the blame is.
Primarily because of deregulation, and the 2004 decision of the SEC to not enforce regulations and the banks complete inability to corral their greed, all of which happened under the Bush Presidency, as well as, for the 1st time in history, fighting 2 wars and lowering taxes, Pres. Obama has a bit of work to do.
What is sadder is that, to the detriment of America, that you want to see him fail…and fail miserably. Typical conservative.
- Posted by Sean“Grover Cleveland was a pretty lousy president best known for the Panic of 1893, one of the worst economic depressions in American history. Looks like Obama is well on his way to repeating the feat.”
It is amazing how quickly some people choose to forget who was in charge when the current economic downturn began.
- Posted by BrianWhat is known is that the Panic of 1893 was a serious economic depression in the United States that began in the year Cleveland was elected. It didn’t happen overnight. This panic is sometimes considered a part of the Long Depression which began with the Panic of 1873. The Panic of 1873 was during Ulysses S. Grant presidency and it was the start of the Long Depression that lasted until 1879. It was precipitated by the bankruptcy of the Philadelphia banking firm Jay Cooke & Company on September 18, 1873, following the crash on May 9, 1873 of the Vienna Stock Exchange in Austria. The Panic of 1873 hit the country hard during Grant’s presidency and he never attempted decisive action, one way or the other, to alleviate distress. By 1875 the Grant administration was in disarray and on the defensive on all fronts other than foreign policy. Gee, that all sounds awfully familiar.
- Posted by MariaJoe,
I agree. He is expanding gvt faster than Lincoln and creating a depression like FDR… only Reaganomics and REAL leadership can get us out of this one…
- Posted by M ikeyou’re no historian Joe.
Grover Cleveland ranks higher than George W. Bush, Richard M. Nixon, Herbert Hoover and Gerald R. Ford,
http://www.theworldlink.com/articles/200 9/02/16/news/doc4999aec76464d492265805.t xt
- Posted by DSI wonder how soon we’ll see around bumper stickers “Don’t blame me - I voted for McCain”, and how many of those displaying the sticker actually did it.
- Posted by AnonymousI don’t blame Obama for not attending that engagement. What comes out of it? Reduce the defict? Save the banks? Give home owners relief? This administration doesn’t have to plessure to sit and party all night. i’m tired of seeing our respresentative dinning and parting all week. Lets spend more time trying to solve the problems we have instead. Take the power nap and go home sleep at night and when they solves the country problems then you can play. Thats our problem we party too much.
- Posted by WillieI agree. He is expanding gvt faster than Lincoln and creating a depression like FDR… only Reaganomics and REAL leadership can get us out of this one…
- Posted by M ike
Do you hallucinate often M ike? IMAO!
- Posted by krazeeinjun