It was the first State dinner at the White House in the Biden administration.
The first such event at 1600, Pennsylvania Avenue after the pandemic.
A New York Times report revealed that the meal went on till well past midnight, with dinner only served at 10.30 pm, unthinkable in a nation where folks usually eat by half past seven.
Good cheer in kind and in spirit overflowed in such measure that the bartenders ran out of glasses.
Glimpses of the guests arriving at the White House:
IMAGE: Actor Jennifer Garner and her daughter Violet Affleck (Ben's eldest child) -- who turned 17 that day, December 1, 2022 -- arrive for the State dinner. Photograph: Amanda Andrade-Rhoades/Reuters
IMAGE: House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, who hopes to be elected Speaker of the US House of Representatives in January when the Republicans take control of the House, came with his mom Roberta McCarthy. Photograph: Amanda Andrade-Rhoades/Reuters
IMAGE: Nancy Pelosi, who McCarthy will succeed as House Speaker if he is elected, and her daughter Alexandra Pelosi.
Alexandra, the NYT reported, stuck to her journalism roots when she quizzed Biden -- the Pelosis were seated at the lead table -- about what POTUS thought were the foods America was best known for.
'Hot dogs, ice cream and spaghetti,' Joe declared as Nancy revealed that she ate a hot dog every day in the cloakroom! Photograph: Amanda Andrade-Rhoades/Reuters
Alexandra, the NYT reported, stuck to her journalism roots when she quizzed Biden -- the Pelosis were seated at the lead table -- about what POTUS thought were the foods America was best known for.
'Hot dogs, ice cream and spaghetti,' Joe declared as Nancy revealed that she ate a hot dog every day in the cloakroom! Photograph: Amanda Andrade-Rhoades/Reuters
IMAGE: Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer came with his daughter Jessica Schumer, who works as lobbyist for Amazon. Photograph: Amanda Andrade-Rhoades/Reuters
IMAGE: Laurene Powell Jobs came with her son Reed Jobs. After his dad, the one and only Steve Jobs, was diagnosed with cancer, Reed decided to research cancer; he also works at his mom's The Emerson Collective, which incidentally is named after Ralph Waldo Emerson, the great poet and philosopher. Photograph: Amanda Andrade-Rhoades/Reuters
IMAGE: Model Chrissy Teigen arrives with her husband singer John Legend. Photograph: Amanda Andrade-Rhoades/Reuters
IMAGE: Alexander Soros is deputy chair of the Open Society Foundations, which was founded by his billionaire father George Soros. Photograph: Amanda Andrade-Rhoades/Reuters
IMAGE: Australian film director Baz Luhrmann -- whose latest film Elvis earned $286 million -- and Vogue Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour. Photograph: Amanda Andrade-Rhoades/Reuters
IMAGE: Apple CEO Tim Cook was there too. The lady he came with is Lisa Jackson, the first African American administrator of the US Environmental Protection Agency -- Lisa has worked for Apple since 2013 and reports to Tim as vice president of environment, policy and social initiatives.
She was the sole member of the Obama administration -- apart from Joe, of course -- to be present at the Macron State dinner. Photograph: Amanda Andrade-Rhoades/Reuter
She was the sole member of the Obama administration -- apart from Joe, of course -- to be present at the Macron State dinner. Photograph: Amanda Andrade-Rhoades/Reuter
IMAGE: Ariana DeBose -- who became the first gay person of colour to win an Oscar (Best Supporting Actress, Westside Story) and is one of Time magazine's 100 most influential people in the world this year -- with Henry Munoz III, Democratic party activist and businessman. Photograph: Amanda Andrade-Rhoades/Reuters
IMAGE: Christian Louboutin -- the designer behind those very expensive stilettos that many young women crave for -- was a rare French guest at the dinner. Photograph: Amanda Andrade-Rhoades/Reuters
IMAGE: A view of the dinner, here and below. Photograph: Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters
Photograph: Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters
Photographs curated by Manisha Kotian/Rediff.com
Feature Presentation: Mahipal SoniRediff.com
