The annual Press Correspondents Dinner is a gathering of the White House Correspondents Association members—the press corps that works daily reporting news about the U.S. president.
Merv Griffin arranged for Streisand to perform at the Press Correspondents dinner in 1963. Griffin told Larry King, “I took Streisand with me and a couple of people, and we did a show.”
The variety show was performed in the very large Sheraton Hall of the Sheraton-Park hotel.
Performers featured that evening were comedian Guy Marks, Edie Adams, piano team Ferrante & Teicher and the cast of Chicago's Struts and Frets. Merv Griffin served as emcee.
The program for the evening listed Barbra's manager Martin Erlickman [sic] seated at Table 6; The show program makes sure to thank “the management of Basin Street East for making possible Miss Streisand's appearance tonight”—Streisand was in the middle of her gig there and left for one evening to perform for the President.
Barbra, who sang with an orchestra conducted by her music arranger Peter Daniels, sang four songs for the crowd. Variety reported her songs were “Cry Me A River,” “When The Sun Comes Out,” and her closer, “Happy Days Are Here Again.”
Barbra Streisand, manager Marty Erlichman, and pianist Peter Daniels met President John F. Kennedy that evening after the show. Barbra, ignoring protocol, asked JFK for his autograph. She recalled, “After the dinner I met him. He said, ‘You have a beautiful voice. How long have you been singing?’ I said, ‘As long as you’ve been President’. I never get autographs for myself, but my mother had asked me to get his. He signed a card for me and I said, ‘You’re a doll.’”
In 2018, Barbra confessed, “I never ask for autographs... but I made an exception when I met President John F. Kennedy in 1963.”
