Monday’s political buzz may have centered around President Obama beginning his re-election bid, but for those with a close eye to the social calendar, the big news was the administration’s announcement of a fourth state dinner, one scheduled for June 7 with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. This will be the first big test for Jeremy Bernard, the White House’s newest social secretary, who comes to the position as the first male and first openly gay party planner-in-chief. “That’s going to be a very exciting dinner, not only because it will be his first, but I think the Germans have been a great ally and to entertain them would be terrific,” gushed former White House Social Secretary Laurie Firestone, who had the gig the last time the White House entertained a German head of state, in April 1992 under President George H.W. Bush.
It was a big deal, back then, because it came less than two years after the reunification of Germany. And it was German President Richard von Weizsacker’s first state visit to a foreign country since East and West Germany became one.
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“Doing this state dinner to welcome this president, first of all, was part of President Bush’s M.O.,” Firestone explained. “He loved entertaining foreign diplomats obviously, because we had these 30 state dinners. He thought it was very important to meet in a social way and have these heads of state come to the United States and see us and be entertained by us, as well as having very important meetings.”
She recommended that Bernard focus first on finding the right entertainment and the rest will come together. “I am sure Jeremy is not going to have any problem at all,” Firestone said.
