Government Official Receive Millions in Gifts They Can’t Keep

Although President George W. Bush has not been very popular with foreign countries, that doesn’t stop world leaders from showering him and his administration with extravagant—and odd—gifts. This year, Bush received a $150 bronze platypus paperweight from an Australian official, a $570 brush-cutter from the Swedish Prime Minister, and, from the Prime Minister of Singapore, the President was given $450 worth of exercise equipment, including a “uSurf Wave Action Exerciser” and an “iGallop Core and Abs Exerciser”. Is Singapore trying to tell him something?

Condoleezza Rice was the one who got the best gifts she can’t keep this year. Jordan’s King Abdullah gave her an emerald and diamond necklace with matching earrings, bracelet and ring worth over $147,000. They also gave her another earrings-and-necklace set with a jewelry box, worth only about $4,630. The Saudi Arabian King Abdullah presented Rice with a ruby and diamond necklace with matching earrings, bracelet and ring worth $165,000 a few months later. Evidently, the Saudi leader also gave Rice a $170,000 flower petal necklace in 2005, but it was not disclosed until this month.

Laura Bush was also showered with gifts by the Saudi Arabian monarch, who gave her an $85,000 sapphire and diamond jewelry set, and a painting worth over $10,000. The wife of Japan’s former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe gave Mrs. Bush two hand-embroidered pillows with an American flag motif and the images and names of the Bush’s two dogs, Barney and Mrs. Beazley, on them. She included a $700 Limoges box with the two Presidential dogs painted on it, and a stuffed Scotty toy. The Dalai Lama sent along an assortment of dried fruit and nuts worth over $6.

The former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Peter Pace, received two machine guns, one mounted--and one not--from his Colombian and Russian counterparts. Defense Secretary Robert Gates received an Arab knife from a Bahraini official and a dagger valued at $345 from the Jordanian King.
According to federal law, government officials cannot keep any personal gifts that are given to them, and that they must turn all gifts over to the Office of Protocol, where they are logged and inventoried. The list is a matter of public record. Although gifts to US Intelligence officials are also catalogued, the sources of those gifts are classified.