It’s a privilege to be invited for dinner in anyone’s home. When that person is the leader of the free world, it’s a bit more special.
It’s a privilege to be invited for dinner in anyone’s home. When that person is the leader of the free world, it’s a bit more special.
The “state dinner” is an honor bestowed on a select few world leaders at the White House. It’s a glitzy black-tie affair for hundreds of celebrity guests, with no expense spared—a manifestation of diplomatic “soft power.”
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The last state dinner a president gives is even more momentous, the end of an era. Barack Obama’s last supper (as it were) was with Italian prime minister Matteo Renzi last night. Ever the diplomat, the president said “we save the best for last” when receiving Renzi with full fanfare at the South Lawn.
It’s a welcome turn of events for the embattled prime minister of a stagnant economy who may lose his job in a few months if a controversial referendum goes against him. It’s also telling that Obama picked Renzi to join him on his last hurrah. The Italian is an idealistic, young, left-leaning leader who rose to power promising change but quickly found himself bogged down by an entrenched system resistant to reform. Sounds, er, familiar.
Or perhaps we’re reading too much into it? Judge for yourself, by looking at whether past presidents have made any sort of statement with whom they invite to their last big dinner at the White House—a likeminded leader, a geopolitical partner, royalty—and what they serve them.
Date: Oct. 18, 2016
Date: Oct. 13, 2008
Date: Sept. 17, 2000
Date: June 16, 1992
Date: Nov. 18, 1988
Date: Oct. 7, 1980
Date: Dec. 6, 1976
Date: Dec. 4, 1973
Date: Dec. 11, 1968
Date: Oct. 15, 1963
Date: Oct. 11, 1960
Date: April 2, 1952
