Last week, Buckingham Palace and the White House confirmed that President Obama and his wife Michelle would undertake their first official state visit to the UK this year, from the 24-26th of May 2011. Although it is their second trip to the country since the start of Obama’s presidency, having previously travelled to the UK for the G20 summit, it is their first time as official guests of the British Royal family. As such, the couple are expected to receive the full ceremonial treatment – including a stay at Buckingham Palace and a state banquet thrown in their honour.
Much of the rhetoric that has surrounded the visit suggests the reinforcement of the strength of the relationship between the two countries, and the enduring commitment they share to common goals. Yet it is interesting to pull back this ceremonial curtain and have a peek at the skeletons in the closet of this relationship.
Obama has, during his two years in office, taken a noticeably colder shoulder towards what Winston Churchill famously called the special relationship. As one official from the State Department recently said, “There’s nothing special about Britain. You’re just the same as the other 190 countries in the world. You shouldn’t expect special treatment.” Recent press in both countries has shown that there is not much love lost between the current administrations. The Brits saw the return of a Churchill bust when the Oval Office was redecorated, seen as a snub by many across the pond; Press Secretary Robert Gibbs lashed out at the credibility of the UK media in 2009; and with the BP oil spill, the British side of the company got a lot of the blame for the incident. And, with no one left untouched by Wikileaks, the US Deputy Chief of Mission to the UK, Richard LeBaron, reportedly stated that the British ‘obsession’ with the special relationship would “be humorous, if it were not corrosive.”
Most recently, with the hottest topic in the UK being the Royal Wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton, several people on both sides of the pond have wondered whether this state visit, almost a full month after the big event, was a compensation for a noticeably missing invitation in the mail – especially after Michelle Obama said she would go if she were invited.
Yet, even with the presence of this background noise, the state visit demonstrates a reaffirming of the commitment of both counties to this historical relationship. There is a long history of presidential state visits to the UK, with Queen Elizabeth II having met every president since 1952 (with the exception of Lyndon B. Johnson). The first official state visit was that of Woodrow Wilson in December 1918, a trip he called a “pilgrimage of the heart,” and he took the chance to visit not just the capital but also various other areas of the country, including his personal favourite, the Lake District. The Kennedys took several trips to the UK, notably to Sussex as the guests of then Prime Minster Harold Macmillan, and during his visit in 2003, George W. Bush stopped at the Dun Cow Inn in Tony Blair’s constituency for a traditional British meal.
But since 2003, the UK has seen a drought in US state visits. Perhaps this is just what is needed to reinvigorate the special relationship and remind all parties of the deep-running friendship that has helped hold our two countries together through the challenges and crises that Britain and America face together.
(Picture: Life Magazine)