State Dinner Tuesday with the Obamas II

This was a plate (mid bites) prepared by White House Chef Sam Kass for the governor's formal dinner in February 2009.  The presidential seal is on the dessert chocolate and notice not a smudge - each one is checked for perfection.  This was Mrs. Obama's first formal dinner at the White House and she chose the Wilson China.

Watch C-SPAN for coverage that is uninterrupted and filled with salient tips from experts on everything from military protocol to the floral arrangements.  A State Occasion, let a lone a dinner, is lavish and meant to welcome a head of state with the finest of American hospitality at America's most famous address.   First Ladies traditionally show off their arrangements and release details regarding floral wonders, china selection, silverware settings and other details during the day.  The room (which is actually a tent on the South Lawn) tent is already arranged and the menu selected.  It is written by hand for each setting by the White House calligrapher's office.  Each course is designed, pre-tasted by the first lady and a small group of insiders and every seat has a handwritten name above each plate.  Mrs. Obama's press secretary Katie Lleyveld will be overwhelmed today as most microscopic minutiae will be fodder for the press and interested folks like me ... and you!

This is a state formal dinner using the Ronald Reagan dinner service. by Mrs. Bush.  Note the coloration of the American Beauty Roses and the plates.  These are decided once the gown is selected for the evening.  Photo courtesy the White House.

The custom is to not have spouses seated next to each other.  Mrs. Obama will be at a different table than her husband.  President Obama will toast his guest from the podium with the gilded eagle.  In the past year, President Obama got a sample of his first snafu at a fancy official White House dinner when the eagle podium collapsed as he was giving a toast.  The Chief Usher and the Head Butler were probably close to heart attacks as they plan down to the nano-second absolutely everything and always ensure there are back-ups for the back-ups. There is even spare pantyhose and other necessities for any guest who faces a wardrobe malfunction - within reason.  The floral designers have special pieces for the table settings and all thirty-five bathrooms, especially those on the state floor.

Mrs. Obama greets an esteemed guest at her first international state hosting assignment for the G-20 in Pennsylvania at Rosemont Farm before the world's first ladies sent down to a formal dinner on the patio.  The tablecloths and the china were a direct reflection of the dress Michelle Obama wore that evening.  Photo courtesy of the White House.

An assortment of contractors has been vetted and hired for this state occasion.  The kitchen is tense with anticipation, yet calm and orderly under the direction of veteran Executive Chef, Cristeta Comerford.  It's tight as a tick in the cramped quarters and everything is done in an efficiency experts dream of a manufacturing assembly line.  The dessert by Bill Yosses, the WH Pastry Chef and his assistant will feature a theme and down to the most exquisite drops will be completely edible. (The Pastry team from March 2009 at the White House prepare each plate in the State Dining Room.  Photo courtesy of the White House)

Here is the original post outlining protocol for the state dinner back in October.
More to come after I do my physical therapy...

11/24/09 UPDATE 1: From the Photo Spray held by FLOTUS displaying tonight's table settings on the South Lawn.  The beautiful grounds and rolling green lawn seem to be a key part of the inspiration.  It also is quite reminiscent of the Green Room with its silk moire in the White House where the Obama family had their official family portrait taken by Annie Libowitz.

Here what we can tell from this photo - Its the William Jefferson Clinton China with the gilded flatware from Barbara Bush.  The cushions on the chairs match the tablecloth and the linen napkins.  That means a stunning backdrop for what FLOTUS or Michelle Obama has chosen to wear.  (Photo courtesy CBS.)  The brand spanking new White House Chief floral designer, Laura Dowling (last week's East Wing hire is how new), will have an amazing centerpiece which we do not have photos of yet.

Update 2:  Michelle Obama held a luncheon for young women while featuring the protocol and precision involved in a state dinner.  The luncheon was held in the State Dining Room.  That Room was later used to showcase the table in a green reminiscent also of the Indian state colors of India and incredible green gems.  It is off set with plum colored stemware and vibrant floral decor. (Photo courtesy of AP)

Mrs. Gusharan Kuar at the arrival ceremony with a stunning jade and silvery moss colored sari as Mrs. Obama brings saffron or a buffed up mandarin orange with an India inspired embossed ensemble at the State Arrival ceremony.  The ceremony had to be moved indoors to the East Room so the military pomp and circumstance was absent with November weather teardrops on the White House Lawn. 

Update 3 - The piece that inspired the dinner - The Dress by Naeem Khan.

Guests run the gamut from Robin Roberts of ABC to Jeff Immelt of GE.  The tent seats 400 and the entertainment includes Kurt Elling and Jennifer Holiday.  In the above image they are in the Cross hall of the state floor where its customary to have your picture taken if the dinner was held inside the White House.  A guest chef helped with the vegetarian menu and the dessert pears were poached in the honey made by Mrs. Obamas bees. 

Missing History & Opportunity in the Obama East Wing

What a heady and tumultuous eight months that whirled by with the first biracial president and African American first lady. My focus is the East Wing of the equation. For the Obamas, two cute and curious kids, an internationally famous puppy and so many inspirational firsts or twists on the past such as the incredible Michelle Obama Kitchen Garden that are now part of the American presidential fabric. But not the electronic strand that marks a spot for the current generation or future ones. It also takes time to coalesce all the moving parts of a White House experience in the first year especially with appointed staff learning the history of the People's House, its contents and all who lived there since the muddy time of John & Abigail Adams. The White House is an eighteen acre bubble shared by an energetic family, military trained attack dogs, eagle eyed snipers, priceless antiques, a rambunctious puppy, incredible works of arts, thousands of daily visitors, vintage trees, a one hundred member staff dedicated to the Residence and now, the newest first lady's bees. That's just the stuff you see if on the premises. It is for those who are not on the premises that my post encompasses.

After leaving the Vatican, the First Family heads to Air Force One to go to Ghana.

The only way to understand the White House is to read voraciously or look at the pictures or if one must, suffer through the soundbites the traditional media thinks are important. What endures is the White House legacy. To that end if one is reading this post online, one should also be able to go to the White House website and find the riches and beauty of the house. It takes a while before new first ladies find their sea legs. Only two first ladies had a relative to call upon to get a multitude of details on the operations of a White House, Louisa Adams had her mother-in-law Abigail Adams as Laura Bush had Barbara Bush.

The West Wing side of the Obama Administration shows savvy at the White House website with a blog, policy briefs, and a YouTube channel. Nothing like it exists readily for the Obama East Wing. Yes, there are a couple of photo albums for the first lady, Michelle Obama, but no blog, no fulsome history of each of the State Rooms, the extensive White House American Art collections, no White House Residence senior staff profiles, no details of events hosted by the first lady that resonate - the music series, the output of the $200 investment of the Kitchen Garden or the choices of China, silverware or floral arrangements used at events. Those things must wait for chronicling by a haphazard news media that misses points for posterity. These details are important and will be part of the record of Michelle Obama's tenure as first lady, especially as the first African American. (Photo courtesy the White House of Michelle Obama meeting the retired Chief Florist Nancy Clarke's new granddaughter at a staff party in the mansion.)

Content on the White House website is important and even the West Wing is struggling to capture everything and get pieces filled in. The East Wing should join alongside the West in providing rich, detailed content about state or official events at the People's House. A great piece has been the live streaming of events on the White House website by both the president and the first lady. Time marches rapidly and before we know it, a year will float by before attention turns to making information available on the website.

The Lincoln Sitting Room off the Lincoln Bedroom on the second floor of the Residence. Cataloging once again the art works for the public is critical.

Certainly Laura Bush had some gaps, but one thing about her being n ex-librarian is that it was extremely thorough on her side of the White House web ledger. It was beyond outstanding and a model that future first ladies should follow with attention to detail to pieces of furniture, pre-scheduled Ask the Staff live chats, individual first ladies portraits and biographies, 3 D tours of renovated spaces - including the Cabinet Room and the Situation Room. Interesting and shocking that President Obama can be comfortably ensconced in the Oval Office decor of President Bush but not the technology savvy displayed on his website. A news sighting of the changing of the White House fountains to Celtic Green for Saint Patrick's Day was duly noted by the press, but its not captured as part of the new thinking the first lady is bringing to White House traditions. I'm waiting, but patiently not so much, as too much history is going by too fast.

Michelle Obama oft repeats that she wants to bring the White House to people who have never seen it and offering up a robust web presence would do that for millions in this nation and millions if not billions more outside of it. Nothing has captured the imagination of global interest like her garden and the implications for nutritional value of home grown local food. Prince Charles waxed ecstatic about the Kitchen Garden and members of Congress along with other guests plus the family eat the fruits of the labor of the kids at Bancroft Elementary, Mrs. Obama, the White House chefs and the landscape crew. It would be great to talk about the garden in terms of healthy eating right at the site - rather than through the occasional news article prompted by a photo op.

Every White House Pet is special. There was a Barney Cam - yeah, he bit a reporter for which first lady Laura Bush wrote a handwritten apology, Socks was a superstar cat and Bo is threatening to need his own reporter assigned to him because he garners so much attention. It was a wonderfully weird presidential picture as the Obamas went on vacation to see a baby car seat (for Maya's infant daughter) and Bo leave a helicopter in the same image. The East Wing smartly came up with a Bo piece that went into bags for the troops. It was pretty cute to watch Malia intently read the doggy bio information before she placed it in the backpack she was supposed to be filling at a service event.

Malia is reading every detail.

All great things in good time, I suppose. Please, Obama East Wing staff - please pay attention to the mound of details about the White House, its environs and the furniture of history that many in the public are acutely interested in for the first time. It is an opportunity so many want and few have have to make such a lasting impact on learning about the White House and its internationally famous first family. The archives of what Laura Bush did is an excellent example from where to start and innovate. We need more information, history lessons and access on the White House website - Please, Please, PLEASE with a vermeil candelabra on top. (Michelle Obama in her East Wing office with her new Chief of Staff, Susan Sher.)

Social Secretary: The Iron Butterfly

Weddings between centuries old protocol and the technicolor of modern life can embrace or clash in the White House. Work of or through the Office of the Social Secretary keeps evolving as presidential terms today require public and private events coordination with efficiency and effectiveness on everything from a private coffee clutch for the first lady to events with tens of thousands of excited citizens or the president meeting a head of state or his cabinet. Its a tough job and no two people bring the same skills or approach. In the future, certain White House gender roles have yet to reach cosmopolitan cross-pollination, but the future holds promise for the first female Chief Usher, male Social Secretary (A Deputy is male) or a couple with the first female President and First Gentleman. Sterling events shape the tenor of White House. (Floating toy sharks going into the South Lawn Fountain for the June 2009 Congressional picnic that was an Obama Ohana Luau. Photo courtesy AP)

Desiree Rogers day of the Congressional picnic as she checks last minute details on her blackberry.

Amiability and ability to get along and communicate with multiple departments and constituencies for each and every White House moment with scheduling changes at the last moment make it seem like juggling revving chainsaws, grisly if you miss, and any near misses or straight out flops are seen by everyone. Who can forget Queen Elizabeth being greeted at the White House for a state visit in the early 1990's with her voice heard from the podium, but only her magnificent hat could be seen as there were no steps for the rather tiny Queen of the British Empire to stand upon. The Social Secretary is responsible for ensuring that those sorts of details are clear. Gerald & Betty Ford had their own fun social gaffe when the president asked the Queen to dance and the Marine Corps band went straight into their repertoire of music from Rodgers & Hart, The Lady is a Tramp. Catchy.

White House Social Secretary is a central component of a fully pledged East Wing Operation. Most of the Social Secretary's of the past came with experience at cotillions, collegiate network and a Rolodex in Washington that made things sparkle behind the scenes. Some were absolute nightmares because of their ties to the first lady while others could soothe troubled waters with smooth as silk words. No Social Secretary will be successful in a modern White House without paying homage to the person who is responsible for every direct White House hire, event and procurement, the Chief Usher. During the Camelot era, Letitia Baldridge brought a state department background a social pedigree to the Kennedys as she served both as Social Secretary & the first lady's chief of staff. Ann Stock was the Clinton social secretary from 1994 until 1997. The position also opens doors to other opportunities as Capricia Marshall was the Clinton Administration's Social Secretary with a current nomination to be President Obama's Chief of Protocol that the White House Social Secretary office must work and with daily.(Letitia Baldrige 1961 - 1963 upper left, Capricia Marshall 1997-2001 courtesy of The Washington Post)

Laura Bush's Social Secretary, Lea Berman, ran a tight shop that sat few state dinners but smaller versions of them, but she did one large mega event for the Queen of England in 2007. Lea succeeded Cathy Fenton after the 2004 election, hired straight from being Lynne Cheney's Chief of staff. She cleaned house, exiting the Executive Chef like it was a TV reality series and with the urgent need to find a pastry chef that could live up to Roland Mesnier one of a kind pastry & gingerbread house standards. At that time, the East Wing had everyone in an intense state of roiling stomach acid there was so much turbulence and turf protection. (Lea Berman, Social Secretary for Laura Bush 2005 - 2007 walks along the East Colonnade towards the residence Photo courtesy the Washington Post)

The blowback in the current administrations Social Office has been minimal so far. Desirée Rogers has handled many thing really well by virtue of her executive experience, education and foremost her relationship with the first lady. Innovation in White House entertainment is part of the Obama Charm with the Easter Egg Roll, picnic and the Governor's Ball. Desirée has had a jaw-dropping gaping hole in her judgment by even considering having herself photographed in Michelle Obama's Kitchen Garden wearing an Oscar de la Renta ball gown and needed a veto from the West Wing before the idea was fully dropped. As previously fretted about, Desirée Rogers penchant for publicity is a two-edged sword as the role is not at all about her - yet her self-stylized branding is about her being a cultural liaison (do the Obamas need a translator) before she has even put on a full state visit. The ramifications of even thinking of a state dinner in this economic climate would be as loopy as even dreaming of having your picture taken wearing a high-end designer trench coat by Viktor & Rolf and Cartier earrings in the East Room and your not even the first lady.

The recent contretemps in the East Wing With the 4 month on the Job Chief of Staff, Jackie Norris, leaving for a lower profile job with a volunteer organization has some genesis in the friction between her & Rogers. Susan Sher, Norris's replacement, is a great friend of Rogers and senior West Wing official Valerie Jarrett and a former boss of the first lady. A noticeable detail is how much the Social Secretary is photographed with the first lady or the family at events. The Secret Service are probably the best at being omnipresent and positioning themselves out of the frame of certain shots.(Photos courtesy Wall Street Journal)

One of the toughest jobs for a Social Secretary had to be during the Carter presidency. Gretchen Householder Poston was the WH Social Secretary at an an intense time that saw a reduction in lavish entertainment by Mrs. Carter during a recession and a scaling back due to the Iran Hostage crisis. There was also an intense negotiation to get the Camp David Accords and the resulting event at the White House is now world history.

Each one has had challenges, intrigues and time will tell how this works out for the Obama presidency. Most do not stay the full tenure of a president & first lady as the job is a tough, time consuming one that encompasses the needs of the West Wing with the changing demands of the East Wing. Hats off to all who have had the opportunity to serve in this capacity!

Happy Birthday Mom! From both of us, NanaRh.

Gelato, Group Hugs & Earthquake Damage

The Obamas enter Quirinale Palace - home of the president of Italy.

Touring devastated areas remains a must do for people ravaged by the forces of nature. President Clinton filled sandbags and hugged during the 1990 floods that washed away farmlands with too many family dreams and memories in the drowned homes. President Bush received summons to Homestead, Florida in the debris path of category 5 Andrew's direct hit. One image I remember because it was quintessentially American as I remained in Rome during this, was a lone rooftop painted with a plea and profanity telling the president to get down there now. First ladies usually do more humanitarian things visiting dislocated people in evacuation centers in a Red Cross controlled environment. Laura Bush was seen and welcomed several times in the Gulf Coast after the Bush Administration's horrific non-response of Katrina.

President & Mrs. Obama greet President & Mrs. Napolitano of Italy inside the palace looking particularly tall in this shot.

In Italy, there are several tangled problems. Italy's lusty Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi owns most of the media that is currently covering his marital affairs with excruciating attention to detail. His political appointments include a former topless model, now a minister charged with guiding presidential wives through the earthquake wreckage of historic stones and with frightened families in tent cities, because the Italian first lady is in the midst of divorcing the prime minister. Michelle Obama toured L'Aquila today with the other spouses or first ladies. As recent as Monday there are still sizeable aftershocks. As of yet, she has not had to visit a damage zone in the infancy of her husband's administration.

G8 wives with a dozen more heads of states spouses and the lovely table in preparation for their lunch at the museum.

A tour lets you walk around the edges of the Coloseum to look down into the underground parts of the edifice. The tour can take visitors underground or to the floor as well. First Granny is wearing the red top.

Malia made it to the gift shop clutching a book about Rome upon leaving.

Coming in the middle of the week, the kids have their own agenda in Rome. My guess was correct on the gelato trip - no way anyone worth their sweet tooth misses Italian ice - Malia and Sasha went to Gilotti and made their own blackberry and banana flavor gelato. This is not spontaneous, but well thought out due to security and Michelle's wishes for her daughters to have a memorable stay that lasts the rest of their lives as they tell their grandchildren. The Palazzo del Quirnale sits atop the highest of the hills in Rome with stunning vistas. I would love to see what they thought was interesting to take a picture of with their cameras. (Sasha already had one camera confiscated by the First Grandma at a church service just before the inauguration)

In the Kennedy administration, there was a nanny. In the Obama administration it is the Granny. The Obama daughters need supervision and there is a coterie of people involved in the logistics of the First kid's and Grandma Robinson's separate schedule. The East Wing has to speak with the State Department that in turn sends out scouts and garners suggestions and recommendations for the First Lady. Final arrangements must be cleared through the Secret Service that involve routes, transportation modes, background checks, advance security to clear out public areas and a clear communication of those activities. That all has to then be communicated with the Arma dei Carabeineri (elite Italian police) and their diplomatic counterparts. Since Michelle has a separate schedule her security coordinates with the head of the protective details for both Malia & Sasha. The kids are vaguely aware of it, but they mostly meet pre-screened strangers and heads of state. Sasha Obama retaining that wonderful sense of being a innocent, obviously had problems sleeping amidst all the glitz plus the time change. She decided that was an excellent time to recap the wonderful things she saw in the Kremlin and Winter Garden tea by waking her parents up at 4am to discuss her day.

Even on the steps of AF1 she's still talking as they leave Moscow.

Colosseum incandescent at twilight. To the right of it is the Arch of Constantine.

Rome is an ancient city with many treasures being thousands of years old. The Capitoline Museum is host to recovered treasures that had been curated at the Getty Museum here in Los Angeles. Michelle Obama ate a celebrity chef lunch with a picture perfect view of the Eternal City with the wives and the Italian first lady's stand-in among statues of Marcus Aurelius. The Coloseum beckoned all of the Obama ladies. Next to the ruins of the gladiators, is where chariot races were held in Nero's time. Not too far away are other architectural wonders and the fountains, oh the fountains. Crossing the Tiber River on bridges that are more than two thousand years old to Vatican City will be a highlight on Friday viewing the awesome symmetry of Bernini's columns, Dante's works on the doors of St. Peters Basilica, the Sistine Chapel and a museum filled with the creative genius of Da Vinci and Michael Angelo amidst the wonders of what were the Borgias thinking. Of course meeting the guy in the pristine white papal robes and the red leather shoes will become an immediate historic image.

Funny thing that not one of the Obamas will get to see first hand on this trip is a staple of Rome. Horns blaring, motor scooters darting about and drivers screaming colorful things at each other as they creatively cut one another off in traffic.

Grazie, Ciáo & Arrivaderci!

To Russia With Love

First family leaves for the 12 or so hour flight to Moscow after getting of the president's chopper and headed towards the 747. Photos courtesy AP

The first family trundled off of Marine One towards Air Force One looking very holiday driven rather than a business trip. Magical things will happen aboard Air Force One. Both honored staffs of the president (West Wing) and first lady (East Wing) are briefing the couple, ensuring wardrobe choices and preparing press releases. Other staff members and the press are already waiting in Moscow to cover the first family's arrival. The president will have pool sprays - cram the press in a little area to take pictures for a hot sec and perchance ask a question for a couple of minutes then herded back out to their holding pen until a more formal press conference. Currently only the president has a formal press conference schedule. Svetlana Medvedeva is not a flashy Russian first lady. Mrs. Putin has the Q factor of a character in the television show the Partridge Family. Raisa Gorbachyova was an iconic Russian first lady that clashed terribly with Nancy Reagan as she was the initial modern Soviet first lady to actually tour with her husband and do events at home and in other nations. Alas, first lady Michelle Obama is identifiable from remote fishing villages in the Aleutian Islands to the space station. Guess who's press shop needs a daily "guidance" announcement. (Before the Obama invasion, on Saturday Svetlana celebrated the Day of Love in Murom, Russia. Photo courtesy AP)

The Michelle show as she makes a quick stop to at a children's store in Paris.

Mrs. Obama's freshly engaged to be married press tsarina Katie McCormick-Llelyveld is going to find new levels of exhaustion. What was Mrs. O wearing, who did she meet with and her exact remarks at each and every stop will be demanded. The president and first lady will dine with the president and first lady of Russia. Hopefully, the kids will be able to sneak out to the Russian amusement zone in Gorky Park. As I have previously stated, the only first lady that caused a near melt down like this was in June 1961 for the grand European state tour of Jacqueline Kennedy as she accompanied her husband, JFK. Add the Obama kids and MELTDOWN is about to ensue.

One of the Russian Federation's most famous tourist sites, Moscow's Red Square. It separates the Kremlin from where the Russian president lives and will play host to the Obama's on Monday evening.

Red Square is a UNESCO World Heritage site one of only a thousand designated throughout the world that represents a cultural or landmark that is worth preserving for the next millennium. Even though Russia is a state currently embracing communism, it has an amazing amount of beautifully wrought old world cathedrals and an endless supply of topnotch art to embellish the gilded and frescoed walls. The Obamas will be a another rare sight as they arrive for a state visit in Russia. Updated with photos and to correct a few spelling errors.

The Obama girls in their matching trench coats depart AF1 holding the hands of thir parents as they meet the official Russian greeting party.

First official activity is the laying of a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Russia. The military high step as done by the Russian military proceeds the president and the first lady.

The Obamas enter the Kremlin - AP Photo

The Russian First Lady, Svetlana, and US First Lady, Michelle, get to know each other as they have water as they tour the beautiful museums inside the Kremlin managed by the first cosmonaut's daughter

Love in the East Wing & Paris

Amor. Je te adore. Je t'aime. In the City of Lights & Love - Paris no less. Who has time for romance working in a frenetic White House. The answer is tons of people both fictional and in real life across two centuries of time. Even presidents have found time to date and marry while in office in movies and most definitely in real life. The youngest first lady, Frances Folsom, was 21 years old when she married Grover Cleveland. The West Wing featured the rocky love affair between the chief of staffs of the president and the first lady finally resolving at the end of the West Wing television drama. Donna & Josh mixed roughhouse politics and being anxiety-ridden paramours.

Love in the White House an example from the latest lovebirds.

Congratulations to the White House's newest engaged press couple - the First lady's press secretary, Katie McCormick-Lelyveld and long time aide, Tommy Vietor, the President's assistant press secretary.

The first lady's press secretary received a jaw-dropping, bended-knee surprise wed-me please proposal at the Élysée American Embassy in France from the president's assistant press secretary. A confederacy of conspirators in both the East and West Wings made it happen using Malia & Sasha as the bait to get Katie McCormick-Lelyveld to get cracking on Friday as the message said they were ready to go to the Eiffel Tower now and she was not there. He better check that answer she gave when it quiets down as she was in a state of shock when she said YES. They will always have Paris! Meanwhile, the Obama Girls did actually make it to the Eiffel Tower.

All of the Obama ladies made the Eiffel Tower tour including Michelle's 13 year old niece and daughter of brother Craig, Leslie, and her mother Marian Robinson.

The City of Lights, one of my most favorite. Courtesy of National Geographic

The White House is the scene for many romances in real life, many casual acquaintances become life partners in the crucible that is a glammed-up government office building set amidst a rose-filled presidential park. With a broken engagement behind her and a love affair with George Hamilton, presidential daughter, Lynda Bird Johnson met a Marine captain, Charles Robb, and married him in the East Room at the White House. A beautiful June ceremony for another presidential daughter, Tricia Nixon, as she wed Ed Cox June 12, 1971 in a beautiful Rose Garden ceremony. Few remember, Doro Bush, the daughter of a president and sister of a future president married at a first-ever wedding ceremony at Camp David. For staff members there is the political odd couple of Clinton strategist James Carville managing a competing campaign and a love-war-love affair with George H.W. Bush's senior aide, Mary Matalin in the early 1990s. Another Obama deputy press secretary, Jen Psaki, was in her jammies when her fiancé proposed wedded bliss this year after setting the scene by whipping up dinner. (Engagement picture of Ed Cox & Tricia Nixon 1971)

First Lady Power Plays

First Lady Michell Obama shares the Queen protocol breach with France's First Lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy Photo courtesy of White House

Every first lady demurs about the exercise of power.  Each has pet issues and are notorious for finding a path to what they want done.  Laura Bush wanted a new chef.  But first, she replaced her first social secretary with a DC lady of lunches with a 13,000 square foot home then, had the new Social Secretary au gratin the old White House Executive Chef without having a replacement.  Laura Bush's first social secretary called the environment volatile.  Tiddlywinks turmoil by WH standards.  Michelle Obama has a new chief of staff and an ex-chief of staff in less than 4 1/2 months.  Nancy Reagan as tiny as she is terrified Don Regan and he was on the West Wing side of things.  Hillary famously set the replacement record by getting involved with how the press travel worked and poof, they were gone. I have repeated often, watch the East Wing as the ebbs and flows in the supposedly quiet section is where the drama happens, even Obama Drama. 

Michelle Obama, Jill Biden, Rosalynn Carter and Nicola Goren on south side of White House

Jackie Norris has chief of staff on her resume and she's already landed a job as a senior adviser.  Hmmm, I wonder if they talked about the possibility out on the South Balcony during this lunch a bunch moment.  The lady in the pink jacket standing next to two iron-willed first ladies and Dr. Jill Biden is Michelle Obama's ex-chief of staff Jackie Norris's new boss, the acting CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service.  Jackie knows Iowa, but Susan Sher knows Chicago players & both Obamas.  Susan lives in the same building as Barack Obama's top advisor Valerie Jarrett and the ubiquitous Desirée Rogers.  It helps to be connected and maintain tight control over what emanates from the East Wing.  Michelle is so getting the DC thing now - it happens and if it didn't, we should worry. (Jacke Norris in fuschia blouse.)

Now what makes this all very interesting is that this week, a former doyenne of the White House had lunch with Michelle Obama in the family's private dining room in the residence. Who better to tell Michelle about when to pull the trigger on personnel moves than Nancy Reagan.  This was another first lady who lived by her own set of rules.  She would be dying to ask Michelle how she is paying for her designer duds after hers caused such uproars.  Michelle paid homage to another of her predecessors by making every detail for their lunch filled with Reagan flavor.  Check -The dishes were the infamous Reagan china that gave so many the vapors even though funds were raised privately to purchase the Lennox.  Check-Peonies in bright colors. Check - fashion ensemble gives props to Nancy's power color, Red.  The White House has institutional memory so they used it to prepare some of the former first lady's favorites under the direction of power forward First lady Michelle Obama.

The Ultimate First Lady's Power Lunch