This underappreciated gem starring Jean Arthur, Joel McCrea and Charles Coburn is set amid the real-life housing shortage that beset Washington during wartime. Stevens captures the city at its most vibrantly transient and infuses an otherwise fluffy screwball rom-com with genuine pathos. This was his last film before joining the U.S. Army Signal Corps, where he documented the D-Day landing and concentration camps; he never made another comedy. — Ann Hornaday

“Let’s make Washington the most outrageous, horrifying place it could ever be.” That was the bar Rhimes set for her ABC series. Consider that handled. The soapy drama — about a political fixer, Olivia Pope, who falls hard (and eventually steals an election) for a very married president — was so gloriously unhinged that watching it mainly involved keeping up with all the murders, betrayals, kidnappings, spy agencies and trench coats. And then tweeting. — Helena Andrews-Dyer

This portrait of John F. Kennedy was begun before and finished after his 1963 assassination. It is a showstopper on any tour of the “America’s Presidents” exhibit at the National Portrait Gallery, the moment when the 20th century finally comes into full view in a riot of tropical colors and vibrant brushstrokes. Kennedy’s youth and reputation for vigor are just slightly, but poignantly, inflected with the fate that awaited him less than a year after sitting for the artist. — Philip Kennicott

Asked by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis to compose a new work to honor her first husband and launch the brand new Kennedy Center, Bernstein chose to create an eclectic spin on Roman Catholic liturgy. When “Mass” premiered, its audacious fusion of genres — music, drama (Stephen Schwartz, of “Godspell” fame, contributed text) and dance (choreographed by Alvin Ailey) — proved the city can nurture breathtaking artistic ambition. — Celia Wren

Building a monument to the nation’s first president proved controversial from the beginning, and it wasn’t until 1848 that construction began on the giant obelisk on the National Mall. When it was finally finished, it would be the tallest structure in the world, until overtaken by the Eiffel Tower in 1889. It is the most spare and reticent of the great presidential memorials, curiously modern while also a throwback to ancient Egypt. Careful control over the height of buildings has kept this the preeminent feature of the Washington skyline, standing like a giant pin in the earth, as if to keep the democratic ideals of the country from blowing away. — Philip Kennicott

Jones once told The Washington Post that he had lived in 18 neighborhoods in D.C. by the time he was 18 years old. The short stories in this acclaimed and beloved collection make his knowledge of and love for the city clear. They feature Black characters mostly working outside of government circles, bringing to vivid life a significant side of Washington that’s missing from many accounts. — John Williams

Chuck Brown and the Soul Searchers played “Bustin’ Loose” live for two years before recording it in 1978. During that time, Brown and drummer Ricky Wellman were perfecting the percussion breakdown, adapted from Grover Washington Jr.’s 1975 “Mister Magic,” that would become the classic go-go beat. In the process, Brown created a new Black American music genre: go-go. Driven by an early version of the go-go beat, “Bustin’ Loose” became the genre’s first national hit. With its multilayered Afro-Cuban percussion, celebratory call-and-response and Brown’s outsize charisma, “Bustin’ Loose” set the standard for an entire sound — and its city. — Alona Wartofsky