Obama back in the White House: Former president holds quiet meeting with Kenyan president then schmoozes at private VIP reception with Bill Clinton and Biden

Former President Barack Obama quietly met with Kenyan President William Ruto on the sidelines of Thursday's White House state dinner with President Joe Biden. 

The meeting, which Ruto confirmed in social media posts, was squeezed into a packed schedule that included a South Lawn ceremony, an Oval Office meeting and a press conference where Biden had to ask for stage directions multiple times.

Obama, whose late father was Kenyan, met with Ruto at Blair House, the ornate guest house across Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House, where foreign dignitaries often stay.

The former president later headed across the street to the White House to attend a private VIP reception in the residence - alongside former President Bill Clinton - but wasn't expected to stay for the official state dinner.

'How have you been? Welcome to Washington. I hope everything is going well,' Obama told Ruto at the top of the Blair House meeting. 

Former President Barack Obama (left) met at the Blair House Thursday with Kenyan President William Ruto (right) instead of attending Thursday night's glitzy state dinner 

Former President Barack Obama (left) visited with Kenyan President William Ruto (right) at Blair House, the official presidential guest house located across the street from the White House 

In his Facebook post, Ruto said he and the former president discussed 'opportunities available to Africa's young' as well as 'democratic developments, climate and peace and security challenges in Africa.' 

Former presidents tend not to be invited to White House state dinners in order to not overshadow the current Oval Office occupant. 

But the Bidens already bucked that tradition last month by inviting former President Bill Clinton and his wife, former Democratic nominee and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, to a dinner feting Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. 

That opened the door to the Obamas attending Thursday night's state dinner with Kenya, especially with the former president's familial connection.

Instead of being present at the main affair, however, the ex-president opted for the Blair House meeting with Ruto and the private reception. 

The two men previously met in 2015 during President Obama's visit to Kenya and while Ruto was serving as deputy president. 

Kenyan media captured former President Barack Obama (right) greeting Kenya President William Ruto (left) at a meeting at Blair House Thursday

Obama made history as the country's first black president when he was elected in 2008. 

His mother was a white woman from Kansas, while his father was from Kenya.  

Obama's father, Barack Obama Sr., didn't play an active role in his son's life. 

Obama Sr. returned to Kenya when the future president was only a few years old and the two only saw each other one more time, when Barack was 10. 

The elder Obama died at age 48 in 1982 from injuries sustained in a car crash.