For Obama, state visits prove to be complicated affairs

• France%27s Francois Hollande begins his state visit Monday
• Past state visits for Obama have been marred by party crashers and criticism of excessive spending
• In the last two presidencies%2C the state visit appears to be losing its allure

WASHINGTON — President Obama has had more than his fair share of headaches when it comes to hosting state visits.

The long-standing tradition of honoring leaders from some of the USA's closest allies has been overshadowed during this presidency by party-crashers, conservative criticism of lavish spending on the elaborate affairs and an angry honoree canceling to make a point.

This week's state visit honoring French President Francois Hollande comes with its own unusual dynamic that the White House couldn't have anticipated when it announced plans to honor Hollande more than two months ago.

Hollande, who will begin his state visit with Obama on Monday with a trip to Thomas Jefferson's picturesque estate at Monticello, arrives on the heels of his recent announcement that he's split with his companion and France's first lady Valérie Trierweiler. The split followed reports last month that Hollande had been having an affair with actress Julie Gayet.

Before their breakup, Trierweiler had been slated to attend the state visit. Now, Hollande, who is also scheduled to make a side trip to northern California, will come alone.

The Hollande affair threatens to cast a shadow over the visit when the two leaders have much of substance to talk about.

France has worked closely with the U.S. on efforts to curb Iran's nuclear program, the two leaders have closely coordinated their pressure on Syria, and Obama will likely want to consult Hollande on France's peacekeeping mission in Mali.

"It was to be a thank you to France for France's role in a number of international arenas," said Erik Goldstein, a professor of international relations at Boston University and an expert on state visits. "I suspect President Hollande wanted a high-profile visit showing him (with) the most powerful person in the world, because of being at the bottom of the polls in France in all polls since polling began. I don't think anyone anticipated his personal life to hit the media in quite the way in did."

Obama isn't the only president to have to deal with glitches and near diplomatic foul-ups during state visits.

The Marine Band piped in with The Lady is a Tramp as Gerald Ford danced with Queen Elizabeth II. A state visit by France's President Georges Pompidou during Richard Nixon's administration was nearly ruined when thousands of protesters in Chicago, angry about France's sale of military aircraft to Libya, unnerved the French leader and his wife. And irate Washingtonians lit up the White House switchboard after a fireworks display at George W. Bush's first state dinner honoring Mexico's Vicente Fox went on for more than 20 minutes.

"There are a lot of moving parts, and sometimes they don't come together," said Donald Ensenat, who served as the State Department's chief of protocol from 2001 to 2007.

If frequency of hosting state dinners is an indicator, the value of the elaborate party appears to be losing its allure.

Ronald Reagan, an actor turned politician, seemed to relish the celebrity-studded events and held 35. Bill Clinton hosted 23, and George H.W. Bush threw 21. George W. Bush threw just six state dinners during his presidency.

The visit by Hollande will mark the sixth state dinner during Obama's presidency. (He held a similarly elaborate celebration for Prime Minister David Cameron, but the soiree was considered an "official" visit because the premier is not the head of state in Britain.)

Obama's first state dinner — honoring India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh — was tarnished by party-crashers Michaele and Tareq Salahi, who managed to finagle their way past Secret Service and into the party without an invitation.

In 2011, his administration faced criticism for excessive spending for serving Cabernet Sauvignon that was selling for nearly $400 per bottle at the time of the state dinner honoring then-Chinese President Hu Jintao.

Obama was pummeled by Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., for the 2010 dinner honoring Mexico's Felipe Calderon, which featured a performance by Beyonce and a menu crafted by celebrity chef Rick Bayless, that cost nearly $1 million.

And Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff canceled a scheduled October 2013 state visit after revelations by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden that the American intelligence community was spying on her and other allies.

With the Hollande visit, the White House has declined to weigh in on the French president's relationship problems, while underscoring that the visit is meant to highlight the importance of the U.S.-French alliance.

The Obama administration will do well to continue to focus on why they invited Hollande in the first place, said Anita McBride, who served as chief of staff to former first lady Laura Bush and now heads American University's first lady's project in Washington.

"Looking at it from a broader perspective of why this world leader was invited to come to the United States anyway, it's about much more than who the women in his life are," McBride said.