Diplomacy involves a surprising amount of gift-giving. Politicians and military officers visiting foreign leaders are given jewelry, art, gadgets and, it turns out, a whole lot of vintage wine bottles. Recently, the State Department released a list of all the gifts accepted by government officials from foreign leaders, with a total value of $3.4 million.
The news and analysis website Vocativ crunched the numbers and found that First Lady Michelle Obama was the top recipient with $1.2 million in gifts.
You might ask yourself, “Is that even allowed?” Government officials aren’t allowed to accept gifts unless non-acceptance “would cause embarrassment to donor and U.S. Government,” as the State Department says. Basically, if saying “no thanks” would be awkward for everyone, officials can accept the gift but can’t necessarily keep it.
If you were, say, Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, and the Attorney General of Qatar gave you a rug valued at $4,000, as he did, you’d have to turn the rug over to the U.S. government. According to the Foreign Gifts and Decorations Act, only gifts valued at under $100 can be kept. If Sen. McCain were really attached to the rug, he could pay the U.S. government fair market value — $4,000 — to keep it.
By far the biggest givers are Saudi Arabia, who load up foreign guests with luxury jewelry. Leaders in other countries are fond of gifting art and vintage wines.
But there were some more interesting gifts on the list. Pres. Obama was given a ceremonial dagger by the Algerian prime minister, and the government of Myanmar gave the president “black velvet flip flop sandals” as well as several dress shirts and tunics.
U.S. Sen. Angus King, on a visit to the Middle East in 2014, was given a local history book and a 98 million-year-old fish fossil from the mayor of Byblos, a town in Lebanon. U.S. Senators Tim Kaine (D-Virginia), who was in Lebanon with King, also received a fish fossil.
According to King spokesman Scott Ogden, King and Kaine’s visit to Lebanon was part of a larger trip to the Middle East that included Israel and the West Bank. Ogden said they met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon and with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah, and Palestinian Authority chief negotiator Saeb Erekat among others. In Lebanon, they met with Lebanese President Michel Sleiman, Prime Minister Tammam Salam, Lebanese Armed Forces Commander General Jean Kahwagiand others.
According to Ogden, the State Department’s U.S. Embassy in Beruit estimated the value of the fossil at $400. The book about the history of the town of Byblos, was valued at $61.50, which means King was free to keep it. As for the fish, it’s currently government property but the senate gave King permission to display it in his senate office for as long as he serves in the senate.