One goal of President Obama’s state dinner Wednesday for Mexican President Felipe Calderon will be no surprise: Keep uninvited guests from crashing the party.
Mr. Obama and first lady Michelle Obama weren’t as lucky with their first dinner last November, for Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, when more than 300 guests dined and danced in a pavilionlike tent on the South Lawn. Only after the last song had been sung did the White House learn of an embarrassing breach in presidential security that allowed a husband-and-wife duo, Tareq and Michaele Salahi, to crash the party and shake hands with Mr. Obama even though they had no invitation.
The dinner will also be the official debut of new White House social secretary Julianna Smoot, who took over two months ago. Her tiny staff has been taking its cues from Mrs. Obama and working overtime to plan the black-tie affair.
Mrs. Smoot has faced seemingly endless comparisons to her predecessor, Desiree Rogers, a close Obama confidante who left the job after weeks of criticism over her role in the Salahi incident amid demands from lawmakers that she testify about it to Congress.
The White House announced in March that Mr. Calderon and his wife, Margarita Zavala, would be the guests of honor. But compared with the frenzy over the Obamas’ first dinner - when it seemed all anyone wanted to know was how they might tweak this staid yet elegant White House tradition - the buzz over the coming Calderon fiesta seems to be lacking.
“The first of anything always gets a lot of attention,” said Anita McBride, chief of staff to former first lady Laura Bush.
But expect the chatter to intensify as dinnertime nears.
“We are still, to this day, receiving phone calls from people who want to be invited,” Ricardo Alday, a spokesman for the Mexican Embassy in Washington, said late last week.
The last state dinner for a Mexican leader was on Sept. 5, 2001, less than a week before the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington. President George W. Bush and Mrs. Bush treated then-Mexican President Vicente Fox and his new bride, Martha, to a dinner of bison crusted in pumpkin seeds and poblano whipped potatoes, followed by a fireworks display over the South Lawn.
The unprecedented terror attack derailed the two leaders’ promises to collaborate on a revamp of U.S. immigration policy.
For sure, the Obamas do not want a repeat of the Salahi incursions from November. Nor does Mr. Calderon want his moment in the American spotlight to be eclipsed.
The White House reviewed its procedures after the Nov. 24 dinner and decided to station a staff member at the security checkpoint at social events to help resolve discrepancies about guests.
Among the rich and famous of Mexican heritage who have been invited are recently retired golf superstar Lorena Ochoa and actresses Salma Hayek and “Desperate Housewives” star Eva Longoria Parker.
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