MELISSA BLOCK, host: When President and Ms. Obama met the Queen of England yesterday, they gave her an iPod filled with Broadway show tunes.</s>MICHELE NORRIS, host: This follows a much talked-about gift of 25 classic American movies on DVD that the President gave to the Prime Minister Gordon Brown last month.</s>MELISSA BLOCK, host: In each case, Mr. Obama followed the long tradition of giving something quintessentially American, show tunes, films - but with a high-tech twist.</s>MICHELE NORRIS, host: As opposed to say Teddy Roosevelt, who liked to present heads of state with things like buffalo horns.</s>MELISSA BLOCK, host: In more recent times, presidents have sometimes presented guests with gifts almost as unusual. President Nixon knew Soviet Leader Leonard Brezhnev loved cars and so he gave him a Cadillac Eldorado.</s>MICHELE NORRIS, host: And a Lincoln Continental.</s>MELISSA BLOCK, host: And a Chevy Monte Carlo.</s>MICHELE NORRIS, host: In 2006, President Bush took Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi, an Elvis fanatic, to Graceland and he presented him with a jukebox filled with the King's hits.</s>Prime Minister JUNICHIRO KOIZUMI (Japan): Thank you very much for treating me nice. Thank you.</s>Prime Minister JUNICHIRO KOIZUMI (Japan): President GEORGE W. BUSH: Now we can go have some barbecue. Thank you.</s>MELISSA BLOCK, host: The whole business of gift giving takes up a lot of time and effort. Some presidents have asked governors to obtain items of Americana, suitable for gift-giving.</s>MICHELE NORRIS, host: But when we contacted the State Department today about who's currently in charge of selecting gifts, they said they're not commenting on the process or protocol of presidential gift-giving.
When President Barack Obama and first last Michelle Obama met Queen Elizabeth II Wednesday, they gave her an iPod filled with Broadway showtunes. This follows a much talked-about gift of 25 classic American movies on DVD that Obama gave British Prime Minister Gordon Brown last month.