This data is about gifts given between 1999 and 2018 to U.S. federal employees from foreign government sources, such as when a foreign leader visits the U.S. and presents the President with a gift. Articles about these gifts pop up every few years, often prompted by a notable gift to the President or First Family from a visiting foreign leader. This article from Foreign Press and this listicle from Mental Floss lists some notable gifts.
Some personal favourites include items at the extreme low and high end of the value scale, as well as cute gifts:
- Live shamrocks 🍀, given by Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern to President George W. Bush (estimated value: USD $5) (seems like a generous valuation to me, unless they're special shamrocks?)
- Emerald and diamond jewellery set 💎, including ring, earrings, bracelet, and necklace, given by King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia to Teresa Heinz Kerry, wife of Secretary of State John Kerry (estimated value: USD $780K)
- Stuffed animals -- a koala 🐨 and a kangaroo with a joey in its pouch -- for Sasha and Malia Obama (the First Children), gifted by Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard (But they didn't get to keep them! They were transferred to the National Archives and Records Administration)
Data is from FederalRegister.gov, a website operated by the U.S. Office of the Federal Register and the U.S. Government Publishing Office. The Federal Register is a website for finding all sorts of U.S. government documents.
Cornell Law School has the text of the part of the U.S. Code governing the "receipt and disposition of foreign gifts and decorations", if you're interested in the law governing foreign gifts.
| variable | class | description |
|---|---|---|
| id | integer | Unique identifier -- doesn't have any real-world meaning |
| recipient | character | Name and/or title of gift recipient |
| agency_name | character | Agency that the recipient is associated with |
| year_received | double | Year the gift was received. Based on date_received if available, otherwise based on reporting year of the source document. |
| date_received | date | Date the gift was received |
| donor | character | Name and/or title of donor |
| donor_country | character | Country associated with the donor |
| gift_description | character | Long-form description of gift, usually including physical description, date received, estimated value in U.S. dollars, and what was done with the gift (they are often sent to government agencies) |
| value_usd | double | Estimated U.S. dollar value of gift. If multiple values are in gift_description, this is the maximum value, which is usually the combined value of all gifts. |
| justification | character | Justification for accepting the gift |