When British Prime Minister Gordon Brown visited Washington at the beginning of the month, it was more than just a visit with two heads of state. The general rule for an incoming American administration is that the British head of state (or the prime minister, since many consider the Queen the British head of state) will be the first world leader to visit a new American president. It has something to do with the British-American “special relationship” and all of that stuff.

Since it was their first formal meeting as Prime Minister and President, a gift-giving ceremony was in order. Generally, presidents and prime ministers give gifts to each other upon the first meeting or for special occasions. As formal gift-giving has become a bit of scandal in America with the hints of pay-offs and tax frauds, American gift-giving has taken a hit. George W. Bush was somewhat famous for giving away pens.

So what gifts did Gordon Brown and President Obama exchange? I hate to admit it, but Brown’s gifts were really, really cool, and Obama’s gifts sucked. According to The Daily Mail, Brown gave Obama “an ornamental pen holder made from the timbers of the Victorian anti-slave ship HMS Gannet.” Brown also gave Obama a first-edition seven-part Churchill biography, and lavished gifts on Malia and Sasha, getting them dresses and as-yet unpublished British-authored children’s books. Cool.

So what did President Obama give The Browns? Twenty-five DVDs, stuff you could pick up at Blockbuster. The movies were good, don’t get me wrong. The collection included Veritgo, Schindler’s List, The Grapes of Wrath, E.T., Citizen Kane, The Godfather, Casablanca, On the Waterfront, To Kill a Mockingbird, Chinatown, Some Like It Hot and The Searchers. But considering the thought Gordon Brown put into his gifts, Obama’s gifts are totally lame. The British papers thought so too:

As he headed back home from Washington, Gordon Brown must have rummaged through his party bag with disappointment. Because all he got was a set of DVDs. Barack Obama, the leader of the world’s richest country, gave the Prime Minister a box set of 25 classic American films – a gift about as exciting as a pair of socks.

Mr Brown is not thought to be a film buff, and his reaction to the box set is unknown. But it didn’t really compare to the thoughtful presents he had brought along with him.

The Prime Minister gave Mr Obama an ornamental pen holder made from the timbers of the Victorian anti-slave ship HMS Gannet. The unique present delighted Mr Obama because oak from the Gannet’s sister ship, HMS Resolute, was carved to make a desk that has sat in the Oval Office in the White House since 1880.

Mr Brown also handed over a framed commission for HMS Resolute and a first edition of the seven-volume biography of Churchill by Sir Martin Gilbert. In addition, Mr Brown and his wife showered gifts on the Obama children giving Sasha and Malia an outfit each from Topshop and six children’s books by British authors which are shortly to be published in America.

In return, the Obamas gave the Browns two models of the presidential helicopter, Marine One, to take home to sons Fraser and John. The Prime Minister has not had the best of luck when receiving gifts from U.S. presidents.

He was given a fur-trimmed brown leather bomber jacket by George W. Bush during his first trip to America in the summer of 2007. Commentators gleefully pointed out that the garment was hardly in keeping with Mr Brown’s usual sober attire of business suit and tie.
Downing Street yesterday refused to state which movies were in the box set.

But the Mail has learned it included classics such as Star Wars, The Godfather and Citizen Kane and was produced by the American Film Institute as a ‘special request’ for the White House last month.

Perhaps pertinently, given Britain is floundering in an economic slump, the DVD collection was thought to feature the movie of John Steinbeck’s Great Depression novel, ‘The Grapes Of Wrath’. The gift also included the Oscar-winning boxing biopic ‘Raging Bull’ starring Robert Di Nero and Alfred Hitchcock’s classic thriller Psycho – maybe a comment on the PM’s notorious short fuse?

And he will hope that at a General Election the British public do not shun his imploration for another term in office by thinking at the ballot box of the famous line from another of the movies, Casblanca: ‘Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.’

But following Mr Brown’s his recent troubles – the UK entering recession, soaring job losses and home repossessions, Labour struggling in the polls and threats of leadership challenges – he may be pleased at being able to settle down for a quiet night in front of the ultimate feel-good movie: It’s A Wonderful Life.

From The Daily Mail

I would totally understand a movie-related gift if Gordon Brown was some sort of famous movie-buff. But even then, I wouldn’t give him a set of DVDs anyone could order from Amazon. If Brown was a movie buff, you’d get him a limited edition Japanese poster from The Searchers or something like that.

One of the best gifts (in my opinion) that an American president ever gave a head of state was when President Bush took the then-prime minister of Japan Koizumi to Graceland. Prime Minister Koizumi was famously obsessed with Elvis Pressley, and it was a remarkably sweet gesture from President Bush to his friend.

Obama and Gordon Brown are shown in Washington on March 3, 2009. Credit: Zbigniew Bzdak/Chicago Tribune/MCT; KRTPhotos/Newscom