The 14th annual record of notably social individuals from politics, diplomacy, business, philanthropy, and the arts.
Enrico and Andrea Cecchi (Photo by Joseph Allen)
A
Mr. and Mrs. JAMES ABDO (Mai)
Mr. and Mrs. WILLIAM ABEL-SMITH (Mimi)
The Honorable and Mrs. TYLER ABELL (Bess)
The Honorable DAVID C. ACHESON
Mr. GLEN ACKERMAN and Mr. ERNESTO SANTALLA
Mr. THEO ADAMSTEIN and Ms. OLVIA DEMETRIOU
Top Row: President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama, Rahm Emanuel, Bob Woodward, Teresa Heinz Kerry, John Kerry, Don Graham, Adrian and Michelle Fenty, Vice President Joseph Biden and Jill Biden. Second row: Rep. Barney Frank, Desirée Rogers, Victoria and Sen. Ted Kennedy, Valerie Jarrett, Timothy Geithner, Eric Holder and Sharon Malone, Peter Orzsag, Jane Stanton Hitchcock. Third row: Sen. Mark Warner, Alexandra Wentworth and George Stephanopolous, Justice Antonin Scalia, Elizabeth and George Stevens, Salem Abdullah Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Queen Noor, Robert Duvall, Roger Sant. Fourth row: Katharine Weymouth, Justice Stephen Breyer, Sheila Johnson, Plácido Domingo, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Amb. Pierre Vimont, Ted and Annette Lerner, Sen. Harry Reid.
Big changes are always in store when a new president takes office. The “out-with-the-old, in-with-the-new” transition of power is even more historic when a change of party occurs (check) and especially when a two-term presidency ends (double check). Barack and Michelle Obama are also younger than their predecessors (they were born at the end of the Baby Boom era; the Bushes at its very beginning), and, most relevant of all, are the first African-Americans to occupy the White House.
The 13th annual record of notably social personalities from the worlds of politics, diplomacy, business, philanthropy, and the arts.
By Kevin Chaffee
John Pyles and Barbara Harrison
This roster is neither the first, nor will it (inevitably) be the last to single out certain individuals, who, by virtue of birth, rank, wealth or accomplishment, take part in the social life of the nation’s capital. Estimable precursors – drumroll here – include The Green Book,” so-called for its faux green suede cover, which has appeared continuously since 1930; and the Blue Book of Washington, D.C., which ceased publication around 1990 after a century in print. The Social Register, sometimes called the “Black Book,” also contains the names of numerous prominent local figures, many hailing from so-called “blue blood” families, although it merged its thin Washington volume into a much larger 12-city national version back in the 1980s.
A major difference separating Washington Life’s list from the others – apart from having no discernible color – is that we do not publish a “phone book” containing addresses and contact information, much less schools attended, club memberships and yacht listings. Ours is merely an alphabetical nomenclature of people who make a difference by adding immeasurably to their city, and by extension, their country and the world. Another point of contrast is size. Compared to the many thousands of entries contained in other directories past and present, WL’s Social List, currently about 700 names and counting, is relatively small. We do not see the need to include every member of the Congress, Cabinet or Court (i.e., Supreme), much less all those with top jobs listed in the “Plum Book” of political appointments.
Justice Samuel Alito and Martha Alito with Italian Ambassador Giovanni Castellaneta and Leila Castellaneta
Location: The Embassy of Italy
WL SPONSORED - Photos by Kyle Samperton
HIGH NOTES: 300 guests enjoyed the show from their $1,000-a-pop seats at the Kennedy Center Opera House, then shuttled to the Italian Embassy for dinner and dancing, underwritten by Rolex. OPERATIC HOME RUN: Black-tie and bejeweled patrons didn’t finish dinner untill well past midnight, although everyone shared in artistic director Placido Domingo’s exultation over the simulcast screening of La Traviata at Nationals Park before an audience of 15,000. THE CAST: Soprano Elizabeth Futral, director Marta Domingo, Justices Anthony Kennedy and Samuel Alito, dinner chair Mae Haney Grennan, executive director Mark Weinstein, and a bevy of ambassadors from of Afghanistan, France, Britain, Japan, Spain, Korea, Morocco, Mexico, Finland, Peru, and Brazil.
WL Photos WLTV
