Gifts for foreign dignitaries
When other heads of state or government visit the United States, there’s an expectation that the president of the United States will give them a gift. But according to Jennifer Capps, curator, and historian at the Benjamin Harrison Presidential Site in Indianapolis, presidents must pay for these gifts out-of-pocket.
Not only that, but there’s a special Gifts Unit within the Office of the Chief of Protocol, which works closely with the staffs of the president, vice president, and the secretary of state to help select the gifts presented to foreign dignitaries from the United States.
