Looks like the President and Mrs. Obama hosted a brilliant State Visit for the PM of India.  It’s too bad they don’t (yet) control the weather, ’cause it really rained on their parade/arrival ceremony in the morning.  They had to move the event inside, to the East Room, which is a lot less festive than the Fife and Drum Corps marching and playing on the beautiful Lawn, in front of troops in formation.   The PM got his 19-gun salute (’cause he’s a head of government, not a head of STATE, like the Queen.  Queens get 21 guns.)

I was all set to provide the expert commentary on the event on C-SPAN tonight, but the President’s toast was 45 minutes late and it took away  my 10 minutes!  Next time please be more punctual, Mr. President!

The dinner looked beautiful.  apple green table cloths, violet roses and orchids in low, gold bowls, violet stemware and THREE different Presidential chinas: the Eisenhower base plates with the wide gold band on the rim, the Hillary Clinton china with pale yellow and gold rims, and a china I don’t know, from George and Laura Bush.

Three hundred twenty guests dined in a tent set up on the South Lawn, which is something we did a LOT for the Clintons.  I carefully noted they installed a floor.  ONE time we didn’t do that, and it rained, and the guests had to step through mud and soggy grass to get to their tables – a lot of expensive gowns and shoes were ruined, and it was awful.  I guess that lesson is carefully settled with the White House Ushers, and they’ll never do that again!

I am surprised that the President, who I greatly admire, seems not to be well advised on protocol and etiquette.  Last week he bowed to the Emperor of Japan while holding out his hand to shake – a very awkward and silly move.  You may have seen the smile on the Emperor’s face, the polite Japanese equivalent of rolling on the floor laughing.  How did that happen?  The Chief of Protocol, Capricia Marshall, was Social Secretary to the Clintons and is a very smart and capable woman.  Surely she advised the President to simply shake hands?  Americans DO NOT BOW to foreign leaders.  We fought a revolution that pretty much settled that!

And then, at the State Dinner, the Indian PM offered his toast, in honor of the President, Mrs. Obama and the American people, and the President took a glass and drank!  No. No NO!  You never drink to yourself!  Someone toasts in your honor and you smile and nod while everyone else sips!  No.

But that’s a miniscule thing to criticize when the rest of this important and high-profile event went so well.  Congratulations to the White House Visitors Office and Social Office for pulling off their first – and therefore most difficult and stressful – State Visit.