International Velvet By Roxanne Roberts and Libby Ingrid Copeland Washington Post Staff Writers Thursday, September 17, 1998; Page D1

Who knew Vaclav Havel was a Lou Reed fan? (File Photo)

Less than a week after the Starr report sent Washington into a tizzy, the White House mustered its forces to display a more appealing side of the presidency – the impressive pomp and pageantry of a state dinner for Czech Republic President Vaclav Havel. The evening also gave President Clinton a brief time to think about something other than you-know-what.

The Clintons were in fine form: the president smiling if slightly subdued; the first lady effusively greeting guests. They heard plenty of encouraging words, although Stevie Wonder was the only one to bear-hug both Clintons.

"I told the president a long time ago that I was his friend," the singer said. "And I am of the belief that when you say you are someone's friend, it doesn't mean that you're a fair-weather friend. You're there all the time."

The dinner honoring Havel, the playwright turned politician, offered plenty of dramatic diversions. The cast included actress Mia Farrow, bon vivant Henry Kissinger, author Kurt Vonnegut, model Paulina Porizkova and chess grandmaster Lubomir Kavalek as well as administration officials and staffers.

The guests were bent on supporting their host. "It's certainly none of my business," Farrow said of the president's problems. "I'm sad that Starr made it all of our business."

"I think what's being done to him is terrible," Reed said. "Your private life should be your private life. I think it's a smear campaign."

This is the second time a foreign leader's visit has been thoroughly dominated by domestic affairs. Shortly after the Lewinsky investigation first broke in January, Clinton hosted a White House dinner for British Prime Minister Tony Blair. A star-studded guest list was loaded with Clinton supporters, who hotly defended his innocence – as did the president himself.

Seven months later, the climate has clearly changed. In the wake of Clinton's admission, most of the politicians last night kept their thoughts to themselves.

"I've been here in crisis periods before," said former Nixon Cabinet member Kissinger as he slipped away.

"I don't want to comment on that tonight," said former national security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski. "I'm here to honor President Havel."

The dissident who played a central role in the 1989 "Velvet Revolution" against communist rule was elected earlier this year to his second five-year term as Czech president. Havel, 61, has most recently been at the fore of his country's efforts to gain NATO membership and in other security matters.

But those efforts have been hampered by poor health. He has been hospitalized several times since undergoing lung cancer surgery in late 1996, and recovered from life-threatening pneumonia just in time to make this visit to Washington, with a doctor and nurse in tow.

"You have never lost the honesty, spontaneity, the contagious friendliness of your writing," Clinton said in his toast to Havel.

In his reply, Havel spoke of the relationship between the two countries and singled out his friend, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, who was born in the former Czechoslovakia. "With her fine feeling for European affairs, she represents to me – among other things – a guarantee of the much-needed U.S. presence on the European continent," he said. Havel then turned to Clinton and presented him with the Order of the White Lion, the highest decoration of the Czech Republic.

Havel's own unofficial decoration was his wife of one year, actress Dagmar Havlova, who is nearly 20 years his junior. She made a colorful addition to the dinner in a purple satin and chiffon gown. Hillary Rodham Clinton wore a St. John silver sequined gown.

In support of Havlova's efforts to build a botanical garden back home, Mrs. Clinton presented her with a small magnolia grown from a seedling of the oldest tree on the White House grounds, which was planted by Andrew Jackson.

The first lady selected an early-autumn theme for the dinner. The color scheme was green and gold, the menu a nod to the fall palate: "less herbs, more spices, bigger flavors," said White House chef Walter Scheib. Guests were served pheasant consomme, roasted "full-bodied" salmon with carrot and corn risotto, greens with baked artichokes and goat cheese, and caramel rum raisin ice cream with poached pears.

The real treat, however, was the entertainment. Reed, a founding member of the Velvet Underground, was invited at the special request of Havel, a fan for 30 years. Havel has credited the rocker with inspiring the Czech people and the Velvet Revolution. In an unprecedented stop, he dropped by a rehearsal earlier in the day with Havlova and Mrs. Clinton. Reed and Havel embraced; the first ladies were fascinated by the singer's glasses, which featured lenses that flipped up. "Have you patented that?" Clinton asked.

At one end of the very grand East Room last night, Reed performed classic Velvet Underground hits in his irreverent, laconic style.

The audience was attentive but seemed subdued, except for Vice President Gore, whose chair rocked constantly during Reed's 35-minute performance.

At the conclusion, a smiling President Clinton said, "If you had as much fun as I did just now, you should give President Havel all the credit."

Reed was unfazed by the stately surroundings. "We're just musicians, so we play a lot of places," he said of the unusual venue, teasingly noting that his was just another "New York band."

Different city, same old gig.

The guest list for last night's dinner:

The vice president and Mrs. Gore