Alfalfa Club in DC

[link to whowhatwhy.org (secure)]

In 2009 Obama was the keynote speaker at the dinner, and mingled with the likes of then–Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts.

Alfalfa Club: The ‘Othe Rich and Famous'
The Alfalfa Club’s sole purpose is to hold one glitzy dinner once a year, to celebrate, so the story goes, the birthday of Confederate general Robert E. Lee.

The club, founded in 1913, got around to admitting African Americans in 1974. It didn’t admit women until 1994.

Legend has it that the club was named after the alfalfa plant because of the plant’s thirst. The name implies that its members, like alfalfa, will do “anything for a drink.”

You have to be invited to join the Alfalfa Club — you have to be rich and famous or rich and powerful, or just rich or maybe just powerful to be accepted.

Members have included presidents, Supreme Court justices, senators, and billionaires. Lots of billionaires.

Big-name journalists, who also attend, and who revel in the idea that they speak truth to power, seem to find no irony in their presence at the event.

When he once again accepted an invitation in 2012, Obama quipped that he wanted to get out of the White House “bubble” and commune with “ordinary” Americans.


What happens at these dinners is mostly secret. Jokes from some presidents who address this exclusive club do get out, but nothing substantive.

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) was the keynote speaker this year. Ben Stiller was his guest. (President Donald Trump has been invited, ever since he was elected, but has never attended.)

And that’s its value. It’s one of the few places left in Washington where pretenses can be dropped. These are the folks for whom the status quo works just fine.

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Last Edited by NotStarvingActress on 09/22/2022 04:52 PM