On December 12, 1874, President Ulysses S. Grant and his wife Julia hosted the very first official state dinner. The guest was the king of the Sandwich Islands, David Kalakaua. Today, of course, the islands are known by their native name: Hawai’i. At that time, the islands were suffering from a depression and the king was hoping to broker a deal whereby Hawaiian goods would be imported tax-free into the United States.
A “state dinner” is a special dinner hosted by the American president for a visiting foreign head of state. Until the visit of King Kalakaua, there just weren’t any foreign heads of state visiting. With 3,000 miles of ocean on one side and 3,000 miles of “unknown frontier” on the other, it just wasn’t feasible for foreign rulers to pop in for dinner. Most so-called “state” dinners were held for Governors, victorious Generals, the Supreme Court Justices, Congress, and sometimes for former or incoming presidents.
When Grant became president in 1869, the “Gilded Age” (a term coined by Mark Twain) had begun. The country’s economy was strong and people were making money. Showing off this money was fashionable, too. The more opulent your décor and dress, the more respect you commanded. And while the White House couldn’t rival the homes of the Astors or Vanderbilts, it was still a wonderful place for a party. And since Ulysses and Julia Grant were “affable people,” the doors were open for dinners, balls, and receptions. President Grant was probably the most popular man in the country.
In case you’re a history buff wondering about that first state dinner designation, President Buchanan’s 1860 hosting of the Prince of Wales didn’t count. The prince wasn’t a head of state, he was only eighteen, and he claimed he was traveling incognito (though nobody believed him).
David Kalakaua was the king of a sovereign nation, and one which had become “semi-important” during the US Civil War for supplying the Union with sugar. Kalakaua expected to be treated as royalty, even if he was asking for a favor from the US government. He was “pleasantly acquainted” with Mark Twain, who had spent time in his country, and Twain was, in turn, acquainted with President Grant (who admired the author in return). In short order, an invitation to dinner at the White House was arranged for the king.
King Kalakaua was greeted cordially by President and Mrs. Grant, and a small dinner was served to the thirty-six people invited. It was said to have nearly thirty separate dishes of “exotic” French cuisine and ‘the finest of wines.” The menu included several choices of soup, fish, boiled and roasted meats, game entrees, vegetables, relishes, pastries and other desserts, and, of course, coffee. “The cost of the affair was around $3,000—more than ten times the amount today!”
But the purpose of the visit—and the dinner—was achieved, at least for the king. A duty-free agreement between the Sandwich Islands and the United States was reached for sugar and other items. This agreement was evidently mutually beneficial, since only twenty years later, the islands chose to annex to the mainland.
Your characters could have heard or read of the first state dinner, and maybe followed the visit of King Kalakaua in the newspapers. In 1881, the king became the first ruling monarch in the world to undertake a round-the-world tour. He revisited the United States, met with President Chester Alan Arthur, promoted island culture, and re-negotiated trade agreements. “As a one-man Chamber of Commerce, King Kalakaua could be considered a whopping success.”
J.E.S. Hays
www.jeshays.com
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Sources:
Feather Schwartz Foster, “President Grant and the First State Dinner,” Presidential History Blog, October 9, 2017.
Betty C. Monkman, “The White House State Dinner,” The White House Historical Association.
Ishaan Tharoor, “King Kalakaua Goes to Washington, 1874,” Time Magazine, January 11, 2011.
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