President Obama and Harry Truman have something in common other than political party and an antagonistic Republican Congress: They each hosted six state dinners for foreign heads of state or government. Obama will pull ahead of Truman this year, with lavish black-tie dinners for the leaders of Japan and China, The Associated Press notes, but he will still be far behind his recent peers
Lyndon Johnson hosted the most state dinners of the last 11 presidents, 54, even though he didn't serve two full terms. Ronald Reagan is close behind, with 52, and Jimmy Carter packed 28 state dinners in his four years in office. The White House cites cost as the main factor Obama has shied away from state dinners — each costs about $500,000, paid for by the State Department (in other words, taxpayers) — and says Obama has carried out high-level diplomacy in other ways, including taking foreign leaders to dinner at fancy restaurants and Thomas Jefferson's mansion, Monticello.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
June 3 editorial cartoonsCartoons Tuesday's political cartoons include RFK Jr. and the CDC, Elon Musk's DOGE exit, and Donald Trump versus academic freedom
-
Gaza Humanitarian Foundation: the group behind Gaza's controversial new aid programmeThe Explainer Deadly shootings and chaotic scenes have been reported at aid sites after US group replaced UN humanitarian organisations
-
Is UK's new defence plan transformational or too little, too late?Today's Big Question Labour's 10-year strategy 'an exercise in tightly bounded ambition' already 'overshadowed by a row over money'
-
Shakespeare not an absent spouse, study proposesspeed read A letter fragment suggests that the Shakespeares lived together all along, says scholar Matthew Steggle
-
New Mexico to investigate death of Gene Hackman, wifespeed read The Oscar-winning actor and his wife Betsy Arakawa were found dead in their home with no signs of foul play
-
Giant schnauzer wins top prize at Westminster showSpeed Read Monty won best in show at the 149th Westminster Kennel Club dog show
-
Beyoncé, Kendrick Lamar take top GrammysSpeed Read Beyoncé took home album of the year for 'Cowboy Carter' and Kendrick Lamar's diss track 'Not Like Us' won five awards
-
The Louvre is giving 'Mona Lisa' her own roomSpeed Read The world's most-visited art museum is getting a major renovation
-
Honda and Nissan in merger talksSpeed Read The companies are currently Japan's second and third-biggest automakers, respectively
-
Taylor Swift wraps up record-shattering Eras tourSpeed Read The pop star finally ended her long-running tour in Vancouver, Canada
-
Drake claims illegal boosting, defamationSpeed Read The rapper accused Universal Music of boosting Kendrick Lamar's diss track and said UMG allowed him to be falsely accused of pedophilia
