In December of 1967, Lyndon Johnson made an unscheduled, unannounced visit to the Vatican.
The visit was so unannounced that even the Pope Paul VI – recovering from a recent, undisclosed surgery – didn’t know he was coming.
The helicopter carrying President Johnson landed in the Vatican gardens, shocking the Pope and the residents of Vatican City since the gardens were not and still are not a designated landing site for helicopters or anything else.
The President’s helicopter essentially landed on the petunias.
After a reportedly tense and heated meeting about Vietnam (and perhaps the petunias), President Johnson and the Pope exchanged Christmas presents. The Pope gave LBJ an oil painting of the nativity scene dating back to the 15th century.
Must be nice to have an extra oil painting from the 15th century lying around in case you suddenly need a gift.
In return, President Johnson gave the Pope a bronze bust of himself.
Sculptured bronze in his own likeness.
Can you imagine what the Pope was thinking upon seeing this for the first time?
Lest the Pope feel especially honored to receive such a bizarre gift, LBJ actually had 200 of these busts made from various materials and spent the holiday season bestowing them upon world leaders and other important dignitaries.
All of this is to say that when someone shows up unannounced and uninvited to your home, just be happy they didn’t land their helicopter on your vegetable garden.
Also, when someone offers you a useless, inexplicable, thoughtless, or nonsensical gift, at least be happy that they aren’t leaving you with a statue in their own likeness.
Most importantly, if you ever find yourself in a position of power, be absolutely certain that you have people working for you who are willing and able to tell you when you’re acting like an idiot, and be sure to listen to those people.
