2001 — Darrell Hammond

Saturday Night Live's ace impressionist gets the gig for the first dinner of the Bush era. A shrewd choice: points for hipness, but no risk of real embarrassment, as Hammond does takeoffs of Bill Clinton and Al Gore but thoughtfully avoids the newly elected President. Bush contributes his own jokey slide show of the family and makes cracks about the 2000 election recount. Even Democrats are detected laughing.

— Richard Zoglin