Reply To: Breaking news: Fun Couple Crashed Obama’s State Dinner

I had the honor of being a guest on the White House in June, 1977, to help greet the President of Venezuela, Manuel Perez, and his wife. I was not invited into the house, but was one of those people on the lawn, waving flags and holding babies, etc., to help President and Mrs. Carter make the Perez’s feel welcome. Venezuela is an oil-producing (OPEC) nation, and we really needed to make them feel very welcome.

I know that the Secret Service does not usually fool around in these matters. In fact, it was a rainy day, and I left a fold-up umbrella on the grounds. Despite numerous calls to the White House, I never saw that umbrella again. I presumed it had been X-rayed, inspected and detonated, just in case.

I was invited and vetted because I was working for the government as an intern that summer, and had already had security clearances, etc. I’m not sure how real the security was, but the Secret Service certainly put on a good show to make us feel the President was safe.