2013 Illinois State Society Inaugural Gala 

Chicago Mayor and former White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel mingles with guests at the Illinois State Society Inaugural Gala at the Marriott Renaissance Washington. Photograph by Shane Harris.

Illinois, the state that first sent Barack Obama to Washington, celebrated his second inaugural Saturday night at the Marriott Renaissance downtown. On hand for the Illinois State Society gala were Chicago mayor and former White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, congressman Aaron Schock (who serves as the society’s president), representative Tammy Duckworth, and former White House chief of staff Bill Daley. 

The walls of the hotel’s large ballroom were transformed into a silhouette of the Chicago skyline. And portraits of former Illinois governors ringed the reception hall where guests bid on silent auction items, including a framed photograph of President Obama greeting the 2010 National Hockey League champions, the Chicago Blackhawks, at the White House.  

Perhaps in keeping with these austere times, food and drink were modest in proportion and ambition. While guests mingled and munched on mini mushroom quiches and hummus, First Lady Michelle Obama was across the street at DC’s convention center, participating in a concert for military families featuring Usher and Katy Perry. At the gala, guests were invited to sign a large banner offering well wishes to military service members.  

Shane Harris