![\"President](\"http:\/\/img.washingtonpost.com\/blogs\/reliable-source\/files\/2014\/08\/US_Obama_Africa_Summit-096a2_image_982w.jpg\")
<\/p>\n \tPeter Selfridge deserves a standing ovation — or, at the least, a glass of water<\/p>\n
\tOn a near 90-degree night Tuesday, Selfridge and his trusty hankie worked\u00a0overtime as the chief of protocol\u00a0shook dozens of very important hands, trekking up and down the red carpet as the White House welcomed\u00a051 African leaders and their plus-ones.<\/p>\n
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\tBeginning not long after 6 p.m. with the\u00a0arrival of\u00a0Mauritius Prime Minister Navinchandra Ramgoolam, and ending more than\u00a0an hour later with King Mswati III\u00a0of\u00a0Swaziland (and one of his wives, who looked unhappy to be there),\u00a0Selfridge and an honor guard gamely greeted black car after black car. The staged repetition (and the sun)\u00a0had to be\u00a0tedious, lacking the rarefied pomp and circumstance of an official state dinner.<\/p>\n
\tThere were some bright spots, particularly when it came to the fashion of Africa’s first ladies. Mauritania’s chic Lady Tekber Mint Melainine Ould Ahmed made wearing aviators at night look cool. And of course, Cameroon’s eccentric first lady Chantal Biya arrived with her devil-may-care hair.<\/p>\n
\tThe only real bump in the red carpet came when one member of the honor guard appeared to get sick on the job. Standing stock-still for more than an\u00a0hour in uniform, while\u00a0holding a heavy rifle as the heat refuses to let up, can’t be easy. Neither is watching the whole thing\u00a0on TV. So to save you from watching all the proceedings, we’ve highlighted the greatest moments from the red-carpet arrivals.<\/p>\n
\t1. \u00a0Lady Tekber Mint Melainine Ould Ahmed of Mauritania, her stunner shades, her designer bag, her all around diva-ness — oh, and her husband,\u00a0President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz.<\/p>\n