Some conservative commentators seized on US President Barack Obama’s deep bow to Japanese Emperor Akihito in Tokyo over the weekend, accusing the US commander in chief of groveling before a foreign leader.
The bow was not without precedent. and appeared to be well within US State Department guidelines for foreign service officers working in other countries.
US presidents from both political parties have often been criticized for their attempts at culturally sensitive greetings to high-ranking foreigners. Former president George W. Bush was mocked for holding Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah’s hand, a traditional sign of friendship in the Middle East, as they strolled together in 2005.
Former president Richard Nixon can be seen in a Life magazine photo from 1971 bowing to Akihito’s father, emperor Hirohito, who ruled when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor in 1941.
But Obama’s encounter mixed a bow with a handshake — something not normally done.
It wasn’t the first time the president, a Democrat in office less than a year, has been criticized for his greeting of a foreign leader. Critics accused him of genuflecting to Saudi King Abdullah at a G20 summit earlier this year.
An online video posted by the University of Connecticut College Republicans juxtaposed a series of upright handshakes between Akihito and other world leaders and Obama’s low bow.
Andrew Malcolm, in a blog on the Los Angeles Times Web site, asked: “How low will the new American president go for the world’s royalty?”
Obama’s bow was compared with photos of former US vice president Dick Cheney giving Akihito a straight-backed handshake and the late General Douglas MacArthur, who oversaw the post-World War II occupation of Japan, standing with his hands on his hips next to Hirohito.
State Department spokesman Ian Kelly told reporters on Monday that the bow was “a sign of respect.”
An online State Department posting from 2007 titled “Protocol for the Modern Diplomat,” advises envoys to be aware of greeting rituals such as kisses or bows and to follow a country’s tradition.
“Failure to abide with tradition may be interpreted as rudeness,” it says.
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