I’m of the school that believes Presidents have the right to make up their own standards of protocol. Martin Van Buren insisted on formal levées. Andrew Jackson threw the White House open to whoever wandered in. And each of them was right. So, if Barack Obama has decided that the way to approach foreign heads of state is, on the one hand to bow and scrape (the foot extended to the rear is the scrape part of that phrase) and on the other to give chintzy official presents, that’s fine with me. It’s also likely to be fine with the dignitaries involved; they have more important concerns than the politesse of a republican magistrate.
The significance of the deferential gesture toward King Abdullah of the House of Saud is the insight into this mysterious President’s mentalité. He does not bow to Queen Elizabeth. Indeed, his wife gets rather chummy with her. Then, upon encountering Abdullah informally in the middle of a crowd, he reacts just like a junior Arabian prince. Why the difference?
I can’t think of a plausible explanation that doesn’t imply, at best, a naive view of how diplomacy works. One can sort of imagine that the President intended to soften up the old despot with this gesture of public flattery. Or perhaps he thinks that the possessor of Mecca and Medina is the Moslem counterpart to the Pope, so that bowing displays respect for one of the world’s major religions.
Forsooth, I’d like to take up the idea of a desperate leftist: that Mr. Obama (6' 1½") merely “contorted” his body in order shake hands conveniently with Abdullah, who is a several inches shorter. I once shook hands with Ronald Reagan, who topped me by half a foot. It would be delightful to “remember” that one of our country’s greatest statesmen bent his knee on the occasion of our meeting. Had I controlled a few oil wells, he might have kissed my hand.
Addendum: Back in 1994, the New York Times took it amiss when President Clinton started a bow toward the Emperor of Japan, even though he caught himself and straightened up almost instantly. So far, neither the Times nor any other major media outlet has so much as mentioned President Obama’s far more noticeable obeisance.
Update (4/8/09): The “contortion” theory, mocked supra, has now become the Official White House Spin. As reported by the generally pro-Obama site Politico:The White House is denying that the president bowed to King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia at a G-20 meeting in London, a scene that drew criticism on the right and praise from some Arab outlets.
“It wasn’t a bow. He grasped his hand with two hands, and he’s taller than King Abdullah,” said an Obama aide, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Politico accompanies its story with a video of the encounter. It takes a great deal of, um, imagination to reconcile the visual evidence with the White House explanation. Even better is a photo snapped from the rear [source: Sydney Morning Herald]. In order to shake hands, the President had to lower his head almost to the King’s chest and extend his right leg??
Is there a word for that in Austrian?
Comments