Monday evening some of the nation’s best women’s advocates were brought together by the ONE campaign, the White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood, CARE, and the US Advocacy Advisory team Mothers Day Every Day at the home of former ONE chief, David Lane. Dr. Helene Gayle, Sheila Nix, Susan McCue and Theresa Shaver urged the crowd to redouble their efforts on behalf of women. Dana Perino, former Bush White House press secretary led a bipartisan call to action with the help of Barbara Bush and sister Jenna Bush Hager.

Barbara Bush’s Global Health Corp is in the process of selecting their third round of fellows. David Lane, who left the ONE campaign to work with Bill Daley at the White House, caught up with old friends as he accepted their well wishes. First Lady Michelle Obama’s chief of Staff Tina Tchen, and Jen Klein from the State Department’s women’s section, greeted colleagues and friends including Stephanie Psaki (sister of WH deputy communications director Jen Psaki), Jodee Winterhoff, Teri Whitcraft, and Anita McBride – fresh off her First Ladies Conference. David Lane was cheered when he walked into his own home, the location of some of the great advocacy work for women.

Capricia Marshall and family with Sec. Hillary Clinton

The Ben Franklin Room of the State Department was filled with stars and stargazers, as well as family and friends, as Secretary Hillary Clinton presided over the swearing-in ceremony for her longest-serving aide, Capricia Penivac Marshall, as chief of protocol.

Marshall, the former Clinton White House social secretary and campaign veteran, came to Washington with the Clintons in 1992. Secretary Clinton shared a hilarious Inauguration story about Marshall being stuck outside the White House gate.

It wasn’t just Clinton friends. Top Obama pals Valerie Jarrett, Desiree Rogers, and First Lady Michelle Obama’s Chief of Staff Susan Sher, were there to pay tribute to the newest executive in charge of diplomatic activities for President Obama. Roger’s deputies Ebs Burnough and Joe Reinstein had a crowd of admirers lined up to say hello.

CLICK here to see Marshall’s official list of duties.

Marshall’s protocol team includes some Washington’s savviest veterans, including deputies Lee Satterfield and Dennis Cheng. Her team debuts on the world stage this month with one of the biggest diplomatic gatherings of the year: the G-20 meeting in Pittsburgh.

Obama State Department Ambassadors Elizabeth Bagley (Global Partnerships) and Melanne Verveer (Global Women’s Issues) added their shine to the large crowd. Clinton family members, from mom Dorothy to daughter Chelsea, cheered for their close friend. Marshall’s 9-year old son Cole mugged and husband Rob Marshall looked shocked by Clinton’s shout out to him as “the best cardiologist in the world.”

Parents Frank and Mary Penavic beamed and assorted cousins from her hometown of Cleveland, Ohio, watched the ceremony.

Former protocol ambassadors Lucky Roosevelt, Lloyd Hand, Lea Berman, Evan and Kit Dobelle joined former White House Social Secretary Ann Stock and veterans of other administrations in their own mini-reunion

Celebrity guests included: Greta Van Susteren and her husband John Coale, Mandy Grunwald, Janet Howard, Ann Orr, Claire Shipman, Michael Feldman, Melissa Moss and her husband Jonathan Silver.

Pam Stevens, once Condoleezza Rice’s press secretary and now press adviser to Ambassador Nancy Brinker and Race for the Cure, caught up with old friends as Betsy Fischer and other media types worked the room. New York’s fabulous event planner, and Marshall pal, Bronson Van Wyck drew his own crowd.

Terry McAuliffe had a double-barreled receiving line around him; no surprise there. He also hosted a Friday night gathering at his McLean home.

Check out the photo gallery:

President Obama at 2009 RTCA Dinner

President Obama in his speech to the RTCA got right to the heart of Washington’s journalist dinner rivalry, saying he was on hand to “Tell jokes that weren’t funny enough for me to use when we did this five weeks ago,” at the White House Correspondents’ dinner (known as the Senior Prom to the RTCA’s Junior Prom.) Then again, he said, twisting the knife deeper: “The jokes may not be as good but neither is the guest list.”

And later: “I think your programming is more relevant than ever before — at least that’s the impression that I get when I read the blogs.”

In his appearance before the Radio and TV correspondents at the Washington D.C. Convention Center, the President was unaccompanied by First Lady Michelle Obama on the orange and yellow rose-rimmed dais and he left at 9:20, before dinner was served. His short stay prompted some last-minute frantic juggling of the entertainment lineup, according to insiders. VP Biden wasn’t there, either, despite apparently erroneous earlier reports that he would attend. A spokeswoman said that he had a scheduling conflict.

Rachel Maddow on MSNBC, right after the speech, noted the President’s “sharp elbowed humor;” a few tweets from the dinner suggested that his humor was “underappreciated” by the audience. He cracked himself up several times, however.

The biggest laughs of the night came when he joked about embattled California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger competing on “I’m a Celebrity….Get Me Out of Here,” then added: “That’s how I feel about tonight.” The dinner, he said, was causing him to miss “date night” with Michelle, and his plans to go for Thai food-pause-”in Bangkok.”

A joke about being in bed with NBC’s Brian Williams, whom he called a terrible house guest, was followed by a list of new TV programs that the success of “Inside the White House” had inspired, the funniest of which was TLC’s “Jon & Kate plus Peter Orszag.”

Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski

There was also a mild jab at NBC White House Correspondent Chuck Todd for having the style of a TV correspondent and “the facial hair of a radio correspondent.” To MSNBC’s Mika Brzezinski, he said: “We both have partners named Joe who used to be in Congress and don’t know when to stop talking.” CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, he noted, was “the only other man in America with his own situation room,” and it was cooler than the President’s, which he said, was unable “to generate the bandwidth to turn Larry Summers into a hologram.”

Random jokes poked fun at his own Administration, including Richard Holbrooke, whom he alleged sprayed WD-40 that caused Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s elbow-breaking fall. He announced a “new” plan to rescue the auto business, telling dinner guests to look under their seat, a la Oprah, because everyone was getting a car company. Fox, he said, would get AIG.

Looking relieved that his speech was over, the President ended his remarks with a serious tribute to the work of the press, noting “I am here tonight because I appreciate the role you do.” He got the traditional standing ovation at the beginning and end.

It’s usually a light-hearted, often funny speech, very much in keeping with the chummy spirit of the occasion. But for the jokes to work, delivery is everything.

“I’d tell Barack Obama to treat the jokes, the whole thing, as seriously as the State of the Union speech,” Phil Rosenthal tells WHCInsider. “He should deliver it with the same gravity and seriousness.”

Rosenthal, the creator and executive producer of the hit comedy “Everyone Loves Raymond,” wrote material for all WHCDs that Bill Clinton attended as president and also directed “The Final Days,” the famous video of President Clinton at his last WHCD. Considered one of the funniest presidential comedy routines, the short spoof featured President Clinton riding a bike through the White House and later running to give First Lady Hillary Clinton her lunch before she went off to work in a limo.

How hard was it to direct the most powerful man in the free world?

“It was easy, because Bill Clinton made it easy,” Rosenthal recalls. “He was very, very good. We did one or two takes for a scene at most. I told people, ‘He’s such a good actor — maybe too good.’”

Both Clintons enjoyed doing it. “The First Lady would watch his scenes being made, and he’d watch hers. They both had a really good time.”

Clinton aides originally told Rosenthal he’d only have 30 minutes with the president for taping. Because Clinton was so cooperative, the director ended up getting three 30-minute sessions.

As for his advice to Obama, Rosenthal says he’d say the same to anyone doing comedy. “If you play it straight, it’s really funny. A straight face is one of the best tools a comedian has.”

Obama, who has a low-key, sometimes deadpan style, may well do as Rosenthal suggests. “But he’s so charming and affable,” Rosenthal says, “if he smiles once in a while, I don’t think anyone will mind.”

For a look at entertainment/performances of past WHCDs, click on the “Back Story” tab on the navigation bar and pull up “WHCD: Video Highlights.” To see Rosenthal’s “The Final Days,” click on the video below.