White House entourage of 500 staffers going to Europe
Preparations are important. You have to prepare for everything you do. If you do not, you may end up making stupid mistakes such as asking a priest who painted “Our Lady of Guadeloupe. Additionally, when you want to be successful you have to surround yourself with good people.
But you can also exaggerate it:
Britain will get its first chance to see Barack Obama this week when a White House cavalcade – complete with armoured limousines, helicopters, 200 US secret service staff and a six-doctor medical team – sweeps into the UK.
Obama will fly into London for his first visit to the UK as president of the United States on Tuesday to take part in the G20 summit in the capital’s Docklands area. He will not be travelling light.
More than 500 officials and staff will accompany the president on his tour this week – along with a mass of high-tech security equipment, including the $300,000 presidential limousine, known as The Beast. Fitted with night-vision camera, reinforced steel plating, tear- gas cannon and oxygen tanks, the vehicle is the ultimate in heavy armoured transport.
In addition, a team from the White House kitchen will travel with the president to prepare his food. As one official put it: “When the president travels, the White House travels with him, right down to the car he drives, the water he drinks, the gasoline he uses, the food he eats. America is still the sole superpower and the president must have the ability to handle any crisis, anywhere, any time.”
Oh my, this trip alone will cause the climate to become three or four degrees warmer.
Obama’s entourage may be impressive, but it may all be in vain nonethless. German Chancellor Angela Merkel already said she refuses to “spend more” to combat the economic crisis.
It will nonetheless be interesting to see how Obama handles his first major international meeting after assuming office.
How does this number compare to past presidents official visits overseas?