Selecting the Right Gift Can Be a Real Pain

Everyone has experienced the torment of having to select the right gift for a relative or a friend. What does she really need? I hope she likes it. Better put in the receipt so it can easily be returned. Ah - no big deal. It's the thought that counts.

And so it goes. I was heartened to see that even the President of the United States and the First Lady are just like the rest of us. This despite the fact that there is a whole coterie of White House staff who can help out with the difficult gift selecting decision. Prime Minister Gordon Brown and his wife Sarah were coming to visit. What to get them? What do they really need?

I understand that a few ideas were tossed around. A year's supply of "shamwows", some "authentic" not for circulation gold layered Obama "coins" from the famed New England Mint, or some stick-up lights for those dark closets. But wait! How about 25 DVDs of American movie classics! Perfect. The Browns can wile away their evenings watching, I don't know, ET, Lassie, When Harry Met Sally etc. They probably haven't seen them, and likely don't go out often, what with having two young boys to look after.

Done. The Obamas gave the Browns the DVD collectors set. In return, the Obamas got a pen holder made from a Royal Navy vessel dating back to the slave trade, and a first edition set of the 8 volume biography of Winston Churchill begun by Randolph Churchill and completed by Sir Martin Gilbert.

What was he thinking? The ridiculous gift was in keeping with what all seem to agree was a disastrous White House visit. No state dinner, no flags, no rose garden news conference. The Browns went home, after, I should add, a very well received address to Congress. The British press and bloggers have had had a field day writing about it.

What to me is most telling about this episode is that it seems to be in keeping with President Obama's "cool" Presidency. No jackets in the Oval office, most office holders (except Mr. President) are referred to by their first names and not their positions, the press gallery are the "guys", the protocol people are the "White House protocol police", and so on. I can tell you this, if I were Vice President of the United States, I would want to be called the Vice President when I was being referred to by the President in press conferences - not just good old Lew. I suspect that good old Joe feels the same way. The offices are serious ones occupied by dignified people, and the times are indeed serious.

This is not merely a question of style. There is an issue of respect here; respect not only for the office of the President, but for the people who work with the President. The more I observe President Obama, the more I get the impression that he truly sees himself as a one man show. To use the George Bush line, he is the "decider", and those around him, not only at home but also his allies away from home, are there to implement his vision. It is that hint of messianic fervour which troubled me during the campaign and continues to trouble me as it creeps into the speeches and the behaviour.

The obligation to do the right thing when visiting leaders of your most important allies come to town, is more than just stuffy, old-fashioned good manners. It is what these leaders expect. It is what the public expects. It lends dignity to the office of the President. It gives the appropriate recognition to the status of your visitor and his or her electorate and political system. This is not the movie "Dave", Mr. President. Get with the program.

So there it is. Call me boring, stuffy, and old. And, by the way, if you are planning to give me a gift, I would prefer a set of the "shamwows".