6 Unusual Gifts Given to U.S. Presidents
Throughout the history of the United States presidency, the office has been the recipient of all manner of curious and unexpected gifts from both foreign dignitaries and American citizens. And we’re not just talking flowers and boxes of chocolates. Some gifts have been extravagant beyond belief, such as the numerous jewel-encrusted swords, goblets, and crowns presented to various U.S. presidents. Others have been less lavish but equally fascinating, whether for their uniqueness or for being downright strange.
Due to the Foreign Gifts and Decorations Act of 1966, most of these treasures are not kept by the president — many are transferred to the National Archives by the Gift Unit (Grinch-like as that may be) — but it’s the thought that counts. Here are six of the most interesting and bizarre gifts given to U.S. presidents.
Giant Wheel of Cheese Given to Thomas Jefferson
One of the cheesiest gifts ever presented to a U.S. president must be the one given to Thomas Jefferson on New Year’s Day in 1802. The citizens of Cheshire, Massachusetts, gave the president a gigantic wheel of cheese, dubbed the “mammoth cheese,” which measured more than 4 feet in diameter and weighed an estimated 1,235 pounds. Given to Jefferson in honor of his republican ideals and his support of religious liberty, the cheese was engraved with the words, “Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God” — an incongruously weighty inscription to put on a dairy product, no matter its size.
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A Painting by Winston Churchill Given to Franklin D. Roosevelt
In 1943, after attending a conference of world leaders in Marrakech, Morocco, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill created an oil-on-canvas painting of the Kutubiyya Mosque. He then gifted the painting to U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who was also attending the conference, as a symbol of the special relationship between the two allied nations. “Tower of the Koutoubia Mosque” was the only painting known to have been done by Churchill — a talented and prolific amateur painter — during World War II. The painting, regarded as Churchill’s most important work, was later acquired by the actress Angelina Jolie, who then sold it at auction in 2021 for £8.2 million (more than $10 million) — a record for a Churchill painting.
Two Grains of Rice Given to Richard Nixon
Two grains of rice may sound like a pretty awful gift, but that’s exactly what President Richard Nixon found when he opened a plush blue velvet box that had arrived from the Pakistani artist S. Nabi Ahmed Rizvi. Alongside the pair of grains was a magnifying glass. When Nixon examined the rice more closely through the glass, he discovered that the artist had painted portraits on each grain: one of Nixon as a young man in the Navy, and one of Nixon as president. The portraits later took center stage in the 1993 art exhibition “To the President: Folk Portraits by the People,” presented by the National Portrait Gallery.
A Komodo Dragon Given to George H.W. Bush
It’s not every day that one receives a giant, venomous, flesh-eating lizard as a gift, but that’s exactly what happened to President George H.W. Bush in 1990. He was gifted a Komodo dragon, named Naga, by President Suharto of Indonesia. Having a potentially aggressive, 9-foot-long, 200-pound lizard roaming the corridors of the White House wasn’t ideal, so Bush regifted Naga to the Cincinnati Zoo, where it lived a highly productive life, fathering 32 offspring that were given to other zoos.
Raw Lamb Meat Given to George W. Bush
In 2003, President George W. Bush was given a rather strange gift from the Argentine President Néstor Kirchner: 300 pounds of raw lamb meat. Bush, being a rancher, would surely have appreciated the meaty offering, especially as Argentina is known for producing exceptional beef and lamb. But once the president had accepted the gift on behalf of the nation, the lamb was passed along to the General Services Administration, as it was too perishable for housing at the National Archives. First Lady Laura Bush was also presented with a gift: a far more practical Patagonian wool poncho.
Crocodile Insurance Given to Barack Obama
President Barack Obama received plenty of intriguing gifts from foreign dignitaries, including a gem-encrusted horse sculpture (worth almost half a million dollars) from King Salman of Saudi Arabia and a Ping-Pong table from British Prime Minister David Cameron. But he received arguably his strangest gift while visiting Australia’s tropical north — a region known for its crocodiles — in 2011. Obama was presented with free crocodile insurance, worth about $10 Australian dollars, which would have paid out $50,000 Australian dollars (around $32,000 USD) if the president had been eaten by a crocodile. After receiving the unique gift, Obama jokingly declared, “My wife, Michelle, will be relieved.”
