A wide variety of ceremonial activities occur during visits to the United States. The specific order of occurrence will vary based on the visitor's itinerary, and is determined in advance during pre-visit negotiations between protocol officials of the United States and the visiting state. The activities allowed and the form they take proceed generally according to a schedule that accounts for the visitor's rank and the nature of the visit.
Flight line ceremony A visiting head of state or chief of government will typically arrive, via aircraft, at
Joint Base Andrews. When the visitor's aircraft has completed taxiing, a ground crew will move air stairs into position at the aircraft's door and unroll a red carpet. A military cordon, consisting of an approximately equal number of personnel from the
3rd United States Infantry Regiment, the
U.S. Navy Ceremonial Guard, the
U.S. Coast Guard Ceremonial Honor Guard, and the
U.S. Air Force Honor Guard will form, flanking either side of the red carpet. For visiting heads of state the cordon will consist of twenty-one personnel; for chiefs of government, nineteen. In front of the cordon, closer to the aircraft stairs, a welcoming committee will form in a line. Two officers from the Joint Colour Guard will hold sticks attached to the flag of the United States and the flag of the visiting country. The welcoming committee consists of the
United States Chief of Protocol, the United States ambassador to the visiting state, the visiting state's ambassador to the United States, the commanding general of Joint Base Andrews, and two or three prominent personages designated by the Chief of Protocol. walks down the red carpet during a flight line arrival ceremony in 2012. On the right is
Capricia Marshall, Chief of Protocol of the United States. As the visitor walks down the air stairs, the
U.S. Air Force Band performs "Arrival Fanfare Number One". At the bottom of the stairs, the visitor will be greeted by an American schoolchild with a bouquet of flowers, before being introduced to the welcoming committee by the chief of protocol. The national anthems of the visiting state and the United States will be performed prior to the visitor's departure, by car, to the
President's Guest House, or other accommodations.
Arrival ceremony For state and official visits, a formal arrival ceremony will typically be hosted by the president on the
South Lawn of the
White House the morning after the dignitary arrives in the United States. The arrival ceremony was added to the program of the state visit in the 1940s. The
Chief Usher of the White House is principally responsible for arrangements of the arrival ceremony. The arrival ceremony is conducted by a civilian welcoming committee, as well as a large number of military personnel drawn from the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment, the U.S. Navy Ceremonial Guard, the U.S. Air Force Honor Guard, the
U.S. Coast Guard Ceremonial Honor Guard, the
White House sentries, Alpha Company of the garrison of
Marine Barracks Washington, and selected other personnel. Some visiting dignitaries with whom the sitting president has a personal relationship have been invited to stay in the guest quarters at the White House, a suite of rooms in the southeast corner of the second floor of the White House that includes the
Lincoln Bedroom and
Queens' Bedroom, plus their adjoining sitting rooms, dressing rooms and bathrooms. These are separated from the president's apartments by a staircase landing. During the presidency of Bill Clinton,
Queen Sonja of Norway and British Prime Minister
John Major both stayed in the White House guest quarters, instead of the President's Guest House.
Department of State luncheon Official and official working visits, as well as some state visits led by an
executive president, generally include a luncheon at
Foggy Bottom, which will be jointly hosted by the
Vice President of the United States and the
United States Secretary of State. The president of the United States does not attend. Luncheons typically follow the White House or Pentagon arrival ceremony and are held in the
Benjamin Franklin State Dining Room. They are served in three courses.
State dinner wearing the cordon and plaque of the Grand Croix of the
Legion of Honor at the state dinner for France in 1960 A dinner at the White House is held in the evening after the White House arrival ceremony in the case of state and official visits. Dinners are appropriately referred to as state dinners whether or not they occur during a state or official visit. The name, in this case, refers to the rank of the host of the dinner (the president of the United States), not the visitor. The dress code for state dinners is determined in advance by the
White House Social Secretary in consultation with the
Office of the First Lady of the United States.
Black tie or
mess dress is usually prescribed for state dinners during official visits. State dinners during state visits may be either black tie or mess dress, or
white tie with decorations or mess dress. The president of the United States has not customarily worn decorations, with some exceptions as in cases where he has been invested into an order of the visiting state. Where applicable, visitors may wear
national costume instead of
evening dress. Dinners are typically held in the
State Dining Room. Those for which guests exceeding the capacity of the room have been invited may overflow into the adjoining
Red Room. On some occasions, weather permitting, the dinner is held outdoors, such as during the official visit of Chancellor
Ludwig Erhard in 1964 or the state visit of the United Kingdom in 1976.
Order of events for a state dinner Return dinner and aide de camp Col. Bingham depart the chancery of the German embassy in the presidential state coach following a return visit to
Prince Henry of Prussia in 1902. The evening following the state or official dinner, it is customary for the visitor to host a return dinner at the chancery of his or her embassy in Washington. In general, during state visits the president and first lady will attend the return dinner. During official visits, only the
Vice-President of the United States and
their spouse will attend, though this custom is not one strictly observed and the president has attended return dinners during official visits, in addition to state visits.
Address to the Congress The day following the state dinner, the visiting head of state or chief of government will often be invited to address a joint meeting of the
Senate of the United States and the
House of Representatives of the United States. As the parliamentary procedure for initiating a joint session is complex, a joint meeting is usually held instead. No foreign head of state or chief of government has ever addressed a joint session of Congress, although in 1934 French ambassador
André Lefebvre de La Boulaye addressed a joint session to memorialize the centennial of the death of the
Marquis de Lafayette.
Streetlining Beginning the day before the arrival of the visitor, and continuing through their stay, lamp posts on
Pennsylvania Avenue will be outfitted with the visiting state's flag, and that of the United States and the District of Columbia. The flag of the visiting state will also be displayed over the East Executive Avenue entrance to the Eisenhower Executive Building. ==Non-ceremonial activities==