Significant Foreign Visitors

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1825: The Marquis de Lafayette was one of the first notable international guests of the White House. President John Quincy Adams honored the hero of the American and French Revolutions with a party on the Marquis de Lafayette's 68th birthday. The square across Pennsylvania Avenue would later be named to commemorate Lafayette.
1860: President James Buchanan hosted the first envoys from Imperial Japan. Two royal princes and a dozen noblemen came with many servants. They carried a box containing a commercial treaty that would be exchanged for similar documents from the United States.
1874: The first ruling king to visit the White House was King David Kalakaua of the Sandwich Islands (now Hawaii). President Ulysses S. Grant hosted him. Royal food testers sampled the White House dinner for the king.
1939: The king and queen of England came to Washington, D.C., and stayed one night at the White House. It was the first trip to the United States by a British monarch.
1941: Prime Minister Winston Churchill arrived secretly at the White House just before Christmas. During his 24-day stay the staff had to adjust to his eccentricities. Chief Usher J.B. West recalled, "We got used to his 'jumpsuit,' the extraordinary one-piece uniform he wore every day, but the servants never quite got over seeing him naked in his room when they'd go up to serve brandy. It was the jumpsuit or nothing. In his room, Mr. Churchill wore no clothes at all most of the time during the day."
1945: Charles de Gaulle met with Harry Truman at the White House.
1978: Jimmy Carter brought President Anwar Sadat of Egypt and Prime Minister Menachem Begin of Israel to the White House to sign an historic peace treaty between the two nations.
1979: The first Pope to visit the White House was Pope John Paul II, who came during the Carter presidency.
1987: President Reagan and Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev signed the Intermediate Nuclear Force (INF) Treaty, the first arms control agreement in history that reduced the number of nuclear weapons held by both countries, in the East Room.
1993: Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat celebrated the signing of an historic peace treaty by their representatives on September 13. President Clinton, numerous dignataries, and 3,000 visitors joined the event on the South Lawn of the White House.

Significant Foreign Visitors - Photo 1 — President Roosevelt hosts Prime Minister Churchill at a White House war conference, 1943.
Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum/NARA
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State Dinners

A State Dinner honoring a visiting head of government or reigning monarch is one of the grandest and most glamorous of White House affairs. It is part of an official State Visit and provides the president and first lady the opportunity to honor the visiting head of state and his or her spouse. In this collection, explore the history of
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Dining in the Executive Mansion

A dinner at the White House has always had significance beyond the gastronomical delights. The elegance of the State Dining Room and the intimacy of the Family Dining Room set the stage for the politics and diplomacy that takes place between courses. In this collection, learn how the style of each room has evolved with its purpose, and how the
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Marian Anderson Performs at the White House

One of the most memorable performances in White House history was Marian Anderson’s rendition of Schubert’s "Ave Maria" as the culmination of a gala "Evening of American Music" presented by Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt in 1939. The entertainment was planned for a state visit by King George VI and Queen Elizabeth of England. Anderson’s powerful voice soared that evenin
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Booker T. Washington Visits the White House

Theodore Roosevelt became president after the assassination of President William McKinley in 1901. The early months of his administration were a tense period of trial and error as Roosevelt had not been elected president. Fond of dinners as a means of entertaining, the Roosevelts held them nearly every night over the last few months of 1901 and constructed the guest lists with
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The Butler's Role at a State Dinner with Royal Visitors

Prior to the 1939 visit of the queen and king of England, Eleanor Roosevelt received a State Department memorandum, listing various rules of protocol. Mrs. Roosevelt became concerned about the order in which the Roosevelts, and the queen and king, should be served at the state dinner honoring the royal couple.1"I told Franklin," Mrs. Roosevelt recalled, "that British protocol required
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Artists Perform for the President

The abundance of fine artists who performed during the Theodore Roosevelt era continued to appear during succeeding administrations, and President and Mrs. William Howard Taft and the Woodrow Wilsons molded the popular White House musicale into a well-established tradition. Beginning with the Roosevelts and continuing through the Eisenhowers, Steinway & Sons assisted the First Lady with the selection of the
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Papal Visits to the White House

Papal visits to the White House have been rare—with Pope Francis' recent visit, just three popes in history have visited 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. This most recent visit provides an opportunity to look back at the pontiffs who have visited the President’s House. On October 6, 1979, Pope John Paul II arrived in an open-topped limousine, driving through the Northwest gate as he w
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History of China State Visits to the White House

On January 29, 1979, President Jimmy Carter and First Lady Rosalynn Carter received Vice Premier Deng Xiaoping and his wife, Madame Zhuo Lin, for an official visit to Washington D.C. The occasion marked the highest-ranking Chinese visitor to the White House since Madame Chiang Kai-shek visited in 1943.
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Frank Sinatra Sings at the White House

Throughout his legendary music career, Frank Sinatra performed several times at the White House. On April 17, 1973, Sinatra performed at a State Dinner for Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti of Italy. President Nixon introduced Sinatra as “a man whose parents were born in Italy but yet from humble beginnings went to the very top in entertainment.” The singer was so stirred by the
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The President of the United States Meets the King of Rock ’n' Roll

Today, one of the most requested photographs from the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) shows President Richard Nixon shaking hands with Elvis Presley in the Oval Office. Although the photograph is iconic, the story behind this impromptu historic meeting is even more remarkable.
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Khrushchev Goes to Washington

In September 1959, President Dwight D. Eisenhower invited Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev to the United States for an official State Visit. Eisenhower’s invitation marked a historic moment: the first time a Soviet head of state received an invitation to the White House. This event marked an opportunity for each leader to learn about their counterpart while sharing their country’s imme
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A Kinder Quiet Sense of Humor

Will Rogers is one of the most beloved American celebrities of the twentieth century. Born in 1879 in Oklahoma, Rogers was a true Renaissance man of the era. Best known for his political satire which reached millions of readers through his syndicated newspaper columns, Rogers also acted in vaudeville and starred in film and on radio. The American public loved his