Wolf Blitzer, Beth Wilkinson,
David Gregory, Lynn Blitzer
Joe Scarborough, Mika Brzezinski and Wolf Blitzer. “Opera” superstars Renée Fleming and Denise Graves, who performed for the
president-elect earlier that day at the Lincoln Memorial, and Marvin
Hamlisch and wife Terre Blair Hamlisch also attended. While presidential politics and the economy were the topics of many conversations, music lovers did a double take when Renée Fleming sat down
next to Peter Duchin at the piano and began to sing along. It was a
moment of ebullient spontaneity.
Rima al-Sabah sums it up well when she says, “There was a
heightened and almost magical spirit of unity, hope and eagerness.
You could feel it in the room.”
The following night more power and glamour gathered at Buffy
and Bill Cafritz’s pre-inaugural supper. A Washington tradition
since 1985, the Cafritzes have teamed up with a number of hosts
over the years. This year they shared the receiving line with Ann and
Vernon Jordan, Phyllis George and Kelly and Robert Day.
The ballroom at The Fairfax hotel sparkled with three of the most
powerful women in Washington: the new Secretary of State Hillary
Rodham Clinton, White House Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett and
White House Social Secretary Desirée Rogers.
“The excitement in the room was palpable as guests began to
arrive from other events being held around the city,” Buffy Cafritz
says. “With the inaugural only hours away, people were in a mood
“There was a heightened
and almost magical spirit of unity,
hope and eagerness. You could
feel it in the room.”
—Rima al-Sabah
PHOTOS BY TON Y PO WELL
Karl G. Wellner and
Deborah Norville
to celebrate the passing of the torch.” One guest who might have
felt a touch nostalgic was former President Bill Clinton, who was
holding court in the ballroom foyer.
Enjoying the night before getting down to business the next day
was NBC’s Brian Williams and Tom Brokaw, along with CBS’ Jeff
Greenfield and PBS’ Charlie Rose. They could be seen talking with
members of Congress, Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer and
Hollywood actors Natalie Portman, Jennifer Beals and Michael
York. New Yorkers seen mingling with Washington power brokers
included Roger C. Altman, George Soros, Ambassador Richard C.
Holbrooke and Jan Chipman.
A few days later, the inauguration celebration was over, and the
social honeymoon has begun at the White House. President
Obama has followed in the footsteps of Ronald Reagan and is
hosting glamorous, bipartisan cocktail and dinner parties and
even a Super Bowl party, with the goal of building relationships
with members of Congress whose help he needs during these difficult economic times.
Washington wise men and veteran hosts will tell you that developing personal relationships is the key to political and social success in this town. “It’ll probably be another six months before we
know how social life will be with the Obamas in the White
House,” says Buffy Cafritz. “But one thing is clear: it’s going to be a
much more open and accessible White House.”
