What do we make of the fact that, often, the most powerful among us have the shortest titles, the least number of words in front of their name? Subdivisions of rank are least impressive. Assistant, associate, deputy: hard-earned, to be sure, but how do they compare with President, Partner, Secretary? (The last title, by the way, might rightly come from a piece of furniture in which notations of rank were on file. This is just a wayward thought, but when you are next in the White House Lincoln bedroom spending the night, take a glance at a particular desk there, the so-called “cabinet.”)
In other words (casting our net in a very broad direction), there is no easy way to explain what a list means, especially since a person’s title doesn’t really explain his or her influence. Having a title is meaningless without access to the next one on the list… And that is where the hierarchical element really kicks in. Power is saying “I’m in the swim; I’m a part of the club.” But it is a club that has no physical dimension, no officers.
Why not, then, draw up an alphabetical mix of people connected in varied ways to the multi-dimensional life of a capital city in the 21st century—a group (some of whom wouldn’t recognize one another, whatever the occasion) that reflects the spirit of a town that is far less one-dimensional than any Washingtonian of a previous era could imagine.
The President of the United States George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush
The Vice President of the United States Richard B. Cheney and Mrs. Cheney (Lynne)
Senator and Mrs. Joseph Biden (Jill)
Mr. and Mrs. James H. Billington (Marjorie)
Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin C. Bradlee (Sally Quinn)
Justice and Mrs. Stephen G. Breyer (Joanna)
Mr. and Mrs. William N. Cafritz (Buffy)
Mr. and Mrs. Andrew H. Card, Jr. (Kathleene)
Mrs. Robert H. Charles (Oatsie)
The Honorable William Jefferson Clinton and Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton
The Honorable and Mrs. Lloyd N. Cutler (Polly Kraft)
The Honorable and Mrs. John Dingell (Debbie)
The Honorable Robert J. Dole and Senator Elizabeth Dole
Mr. and Mrs. Placido Domingo (Marta)
Mr. and Mrs. Robert Duvall (Luciana Pedraza)
Mrs. Nancy McElroy Folger (Bitsey)
Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Friedman (Ann)
Senator and Mrs. William H. Frist (Karyn)
Mr. and Mrs. Joe Gibbs (Melissa)
Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Glickman (Rhoda)
Mr. and Mrs. Donald Graham (Mary)
The Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board and Mrs. Alan Greenspan (Andrea Mitchell)
Mr. and Mrs. Marvin Hamlisch (Terre)
The Speaker of the House and Mrs. J. Dennis Hastert (Jean)
Mr. James Hoagland and Ms. Jane Stanton Hitchcock
Mr. and Mrs. Al Hunt (Judy Woodruff)
Mr. Robert Johnson
Mr. and Mrs. Vernon Jordan (Ann)
Mr. Michael Kaiser
Senator and Mrs. Edward M. Kennedy (Vicky)
Senator John F. Kerry and Mrs. Teresa Heinz Kerry
Mr. and Mrs. Ted Koppel (Grace Anne)
Mr. and Mrs. James Lehrer (Kate)
His Excellency the Ambassador of France Jean- David Levitte and Mrs. Levitte (Marie-Cecile)
The Honorable and Mrs. Frederic V. Malek (Marlene)
His Excellency the Ambassador of the United Kingdom Sir David G. Manning and Lady Manning (Catherine)
Senator and Mrs. John McCain (Cindy)
His Eminence Theodore Cardinal McCarrick
Her Majesty Queen Noor al Hussein of Jordan
Senator and Mrs. Barack Obama (Michelle)
Justice Sandra Day O’Connor and the Honorable John O’Connor
Mr. and Mrs. Mandell J. Ourisman (Mary)
Representative Nancy Pelosi and Mr. Paul Pelosi
Mr. and Mrs. John Podesta (Mary)
The Secretary of State and Mrs. Colin L. Powell (Alma)
Mr. and Mrs. Earl A. (Rusty) Powell, III (Nancy)
Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist
Mr. and Mrs. Wayne B. Reynolds (Catherine)
The Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
Senator and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller, IV (Sharon Percy)
Mr. and Mrs. Karl Rove (Darby)
The Secretary of Defense and Mrs. Donald H. Rumsfeld (Joyce)
Mr. and Mrs. Timothy Russert (Maureen Orth)
His Excellency the Ambassador of Kuwait Sheikh Salem Abdullah Al Jaber Al-Sabah and Mrs. Al- Sabah (Rima)
Justice and Mrs. Antonin Scalia (Maureen)
Mr. and Mrs. Stephen Schwarzman (Christine)
The Honorable and Mrs. R. Sargent Shriver, Jr. (Eunice Kennedy)
The Honorable and Mrs. Lawrence Small (Sandra)
The Secretary of the Treasury and Mrs. John W. Snowe (Carolyn)
Mr. and Mrs. George Stephanopoulos (Alexandra Wentworth)
The Honorable and Mrs. Robert S. Strauss (Helen)
His Excellency the Ambassador of Saudi Arabia, His Royal Highness Prince Bandar bin Sultan and Her Royal Highness Princess Haifa Al-Faisal
His Excellency the Ambassador of Russia Yuri Ushakov and Mrs. Ushakov (Svetlana)
The Honorable Anthony A. Williams the Mayor of Washington, D.C. and Mrs. Williams (Diane)
The President of the World Bank and Mrs. James Wolfensohn (Elaine)
The Honorable Paul Wolfowitz
Mr. and Mrs. Bob Woodward (Elsa Walsh)
