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State Dinner Guest List for Hollande Is Impressive, if Minus One State Dinner Guest List for Hollande Is Impressive, if Minus One
(about 1 hour later)
WASHINGTON — When President John F. Kennedy visited France in 1961, he described himself as “the man who had accompanied Jacqueline Kennedy to Paris.” When President François Hollande of France arrived at the White House for a state dinner in his honor on Tuesday evening, he was most conspicuous for traveling alone. WASHINGTON — In the end, the White House solved the most delicate protocol issue of Tuesday’s state dinner for President François Hollande of France in a dignified but creative way.
Climbing out his limousine just after 7 p.m., Mr. Hollande was welcomed by President Obama and his wife, Michelle, wearing a liberty-blue gown and black beaded top by Carolina Herrera. The first couple flanked Mr. Hollande for a photograph, before the three made their way inside. Seated at President Obama’s right under a shimmering white tent on the South Lawn was Thelma Golden, the director of the Studio Museum in Harlem, who 20 years ago mounted a provocative exhibit at the Whitney Museum of American Art titled “Black Male.”
It was not yet clear how the White House planned to solve the most vexing protocol question of the evening: whom to place next to Mr. Obama, the seat of honor that the White House believed weeks ago would go to France’s unofficial first lady, Valérie Trierweiler. Until a few weeks ago, the White House assumed that the seat of honor would go to France’s unofficial first lady, Valérie Trierweiler. But Mr. Hollande came to the United States without Ms. Trierweiler, his longtime partner, after announcing that they had split last month in the midst of a swirl of news media reports that he had cheated on her with a French actress.
Mr. Hollande came without Ms. Trierweiler, his longtime partner, after announcing that they had split, following a swirl of reports that he was cheating on her with a French actress. To Michelle Obama’s left was Stephen Colbert, the comedian and television host, whose connection to France consists largely in his determination to pronounce his surname as if it were French (he is of Irish, English and German extraction).
The guest list, as always, drew from the worlds of politics, business, sports, news media and entertainment, with a nod to Americans of French extraction. Among the most notable was Edith Windsor, 83, the New Yorker whose landmark lawsuit against the government for denying her tax benefits after the death of her female spouse knocked down the Defense of Marriage Act last year. The seating riddle thus solved, the Obamas and their 350 guests set about honoring Mr. Hollande at a lavish event that featured quail eggs, Hawaiian chocolate-malted ganache, and purple irises and free-flowing vines meant to evoke Monet.
Among the Hollywood names on the list: the film star Bradley Cooper; the television comedian Mindy Kaling; the actress Cicely Tyson; the film and television producer J. J. Abrams; the talk-show host Stephen Colbert; and the actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus, currently playing a dysfunctional vice president in the HBO series, “Veep.” Plenty of Hollywood names were in attendance: the film star Bradley Cooper, who was seen chatting with Secretary of State John Kerry; the actress Cicely Tyson; and Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who plays a dysfunctional vice president in the HBO series “Veep.” She was seated next to the actual vice president, Joseph R. Biden Jr.
As the guests arrived, journalists quizzed them on their French connection, drawing a variety of answers. In his toast to Mr. Hollande, Mr. Obama offered humorous aperçus about life in America from the French political thinker Alexis de Tocqueville. “Vive la France, God bless America, and long live the alliance between our great nations,” the president concluded.
“My last name is French,” said Mary J. Blige, the singer and songwriter who then performed at the dinner. Mr. Hollande spoke of bestowing the French Legion of Honor on American veterans of World War II. “We love the United States and you love the French, but you don’t always say so because you are shy,” he said through a translator, drawing laughs.
For all the meticulous arrangements, the evening still seemed one spouse short, not least when the two presidents descended the stairs to greet their guests, with a solo Mrs. Obama behind.
If President John F. Kennedy, after visiting France in 1961 with his immensely popular wife, famously described himself as “the man who had accompanied Jacqueline Kennedy to Paris,” Mr. Hollande has been most conspicuous on this state visit for traveling alone.
Climbing out of his limousine just after 7 p.m., he was greeted by the Obamas, the first lady in a full liberty-blue skirt and black beaded top by Carolina Herrera. The first couple towered over Mr. Hollande for a photo, before the three made their way inside.
The guest list for the state dinner, as is traditional, drew from the worlds of politics, business, sports, news media and entertainment, with a nod to Americans of French extraction.
Among the most notable guests was Edith Windsor, 83, the New Yorker whose landmark lawsuit against the federal government for denying her tax benefits after the death of her female spouse knocked down the Defense of Marriage Act last year.
Among the news media figures invited were Jeff Zucker, the president of CNN, and Jill Abramson, the executive editor of The New York Times.
As the guests passed a press gantlet on their way into the East Wing, they were quizzed on their French connections, offering answers that ranged from predictable to bewildering.
“My last name is French,” said Mary J. Blige, the Bronx-born singer and songwriter, who performed at the dinner.
Benjamin Jealous, the former president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said, “I think the French are way cooler than we are on a whole bunch of fronts.”Benjamin Jealous, the former president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said, “I think the French are way cooler than we are on a whole bunch of fronts.”
Asked to name his favorite thing about France, Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York, said, “the food.” Asked to be more specific, he paused before saying, “the rolls.” Asked to name his favorite thing about France, Sen. Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York, said, “The food.” Asked to be more specific, he paused before saying, “The rolls.”
Samantha Power, the American ambassador to the United Nations, confessed that she did not speak French, that she had learned German in high school. The fashion choices, as always, were conservative, though Joanna Coles, the editor in chief of Cosmopolitan magazine, said she hoped that her dress — a striking black-leather outfit with diaphanous panels and leather bodice — “wasn’t too slutty.”
And Joanna Coles, the editor in chief of Cosmopolitan magazine, said she hoped that her dress — striking black leather with diaphanous panels and leather bodice — “wasn’t too slutty.” The dinner capped a day of ceremony that began in the frigid sunshine of the South Lawn, where Mr. Obama formally welcomed Mr. Hollande against a backdrop of ruffling tricolor flags.
The dinner capped a day of ceremony that began in the frigid sunshine of the South Lawn, where Mr. Obama formally welcomed Mr. Hollande against a backdrop of ruffling flags, tricolors and the Stars and Stripes. The leaders paused to greet two American veterans, wearing bomber jackets who served in France of World War II. At midday, under twinkling chandeliers at the State Department, Mr. Hollande was feted over a New Orleans-style lunch in a gathering that included three former secretaries of state: Henry A. Kissinger, Colin L. Powell and Madeleine K. Albright.
Earlier, under twinkling chandeliers at the State Department, Mr. Hollande was feted over a Louisiana lunch by a gathering that included three former secretaries of state — Henry A. Kissinger, Colin Powell, and Madeleine K. Albright — as well as Mr. Kerry, Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and a legion of senior administration officials. In his toast, Mr. Hollande lamented the fact that previous French leaders, like Georges Pompidou, could spend a week or two touring the United States, while he had only three days.
The connections to France were many and varied. The lunch was held in the sumptuous Benjamin Franklin room, named after the first American envoy to France (on Monday, Mr. Hollande visited Monticello, the historic home of Thomas Jefferson, the second envoy). Mr. Kerry gestured to an antique English writing desk on which the Treaty of Paris, ending the American Revolutionary War, was signed in 1783. “Happy days,” he said dryly.
Lunch was prepared by John Besh, a New Orleans chef and television star, who drew on traditional Louisiana cuisine for a salad of jumbo lump Louisiana blue crab, black bass “Court Bouillon,” what the menu listed as “white gulf shrimp cajun grain rice” and salted caramel king cake.
In his toast to Mr. Hollande, much of it in French, Mr. Kerry recounted how his parents met and fell in love on the Brittany coast; how his mother, a nurse in Paris, fled the Nazi occupation; and how after the war, his father, then a diplomat posted in Europe, took a young Mr. Kerry to walk among the burned-out ruins of landing craft on the beaches of Normandy.
Mr. Hollande, who said he was obliged to speak in French for reasons of “protection” — that is, to protect himself from committing a gaffe in English — offered a brisk tour of the places where France and the United States were working together, called for the two countries “to promote the digital agenda” and bemoaned that previous French presidents, like Georges Pompidou, could spend a week or two touring the United States, while he had only three days. “Happy days,” he said dryly.
“The vice president gives me his authorization to stay longer,” he said to a beaming Mr. Biden. “Unfortunately, it is impossible.”