A wealthy individual receives an invitation to have coffee with the President or, say, with the chairperson of a congressional committee. The invitation may have come about without any effort on the part of the wealthy individual, or the wealthy individual may have solicited it. In either case, the real value of the event to the individual is that it confirms the impression of others that he is capable of commanding the attention of a President or another powerful person in Washington. The photograph memorializing the coffee chat, complete with signature, hangs by no means discreetly on the office wall. The personal thank you note to the wealthy individual which arrived from the politician is slyly shared with others.
Word spreads of a subsequent invitation to golf.
What this does for the wealthy individual is incalculable. Suddenly, he has become someone with access to a Powerful Ear become a person, it is presumed, of influence. Such a reputation is valuable to him, socially and financially and in the dimly lit areas in between. It gives the people with whom he does business the sense that he can deliver on whatever he proposes. After all, if he commands the attention of a President or one or more leaders of Congress it must be that he is capable of opening any door below that exalted level, and, by extension, of getting his way.