Think Tank Presence Slim at Obama's Last State Dinner

It was the last chance for think tankers to get invited to a President Barack Obama state dinner, and only two think tankers made the cut to honor Prime Minister of Italy Matteo Renzi to the White House.

The two who made it were Robert Kagan, a Senior Fellow with the Project on International Order and Strategy at the Brookings Institution, and Jane Harman, Director, President, and CEO of the Wilson Center.

It helps that Kagan is the husband of Victoria Nuland, the Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs.

Interestingly, Mae Podesta, the daughter of Center for American Progress (CAP) founder John Podesta, also made the list.  Perhaps Mr. Podesta was going to go but become a bit too preoccupied with his ongoing email issues.

Earlier in the year Think Tank Watch wrote about the likelihood of think tankers being invited to a White House state dinner.  Basically, it doesn't happen too often.

Why not?  Part of the reason is that the current president and those who advise him do not see eye to eye on a number of issues.  In fact, many at the White House refer to Washington's foreign policy elite (i.e., think tankers) as "The Blob."

But do not fret all you think tankers.  For if you you did not get your invitation these past eight years, a new administration will always bring more opportunities.

Few Think Tankers at Nordic State Dinner

The White House just held what is probably one of its last state dinners, and only a lucky few think tankers got to attend.

More specifically, there were only two current think tankers on the guest list for the Nordic state dinner: Rebecca Winthrop of the Brookings Institution and Walter Isaacson, President and CEO of the Aspen Institute.

Isaacson brought his wife, Cathy Isaacson to the state dinner, while Winthrop, who is a Senior Fellow and Director of the Center for Universal Education at Brookings, brought Jean-Marc Bernard, Deputy Chief Technical Officer at the Global Partnership for Education.

That said, there were a number of former think tankers at the state dinner (particularly those who still serve in the Obama Administration), including Colin Kahl, Denis McDonough, and Susan Rice.

As previously reported by Think Tank Watch, it is extremely hard for a think tanker to score a White House state dinner invitation.

Likelihood of a Think Tanker Being Invited to a State Dinner?

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's recent visit to Washington got Think Tank Watch thinking about how often think tankers get invitations to presidential state dinners.

Fortunately, The New York Times has done much of the leg-work, analyzing the previous nine state dinners to come up with an answer.  Here is the breakdown of who gets invited:

• Wall Street and business sector: 35%
• Intelligentsia: 17%
• Media: 16%
• Hollywood and arts: 14%
• Sports, tech, and health: 12%

In other words, around 17% of state dinner guests are from "intelligentsia," which includes the think tank world.  However, that category also includes authors, professors, and others in similar fields.  That means the chances of a think tanker securing a coveted state dinner invite are probably harder than getting into Harvard or Yale.

NYT notes that think tank guests for state dinners under President Obama have included Robert Kagan and Strobe Talbott of Brookings, and George Shultz of the Hoover Institution.