 When Merry arrived in the United States, he was received without any hospitality by President Thomas Jefferson, who greeted him in casual clothes and bedroom slippers and was inclined to show hostility towards Britain through Merry.Merry and his wife were invited to dinner at the White House along with the French "chargé d'affaires" and his wife at a time when the two countries were at war with one another.When Merry made a complaint about protocol to James Madison, Madison increased the offence by referring to it as "a matter of very little moment".