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This video, makes the following claim, as aired on Fox News:

[Obama] did bow to the Muslim King, while he did not do it to the British Queen of England, and by bowing he showed the world that "I am subservient, I do bow down to you as a Muslim King." Something that no other president has done with Saudi Arabia. [5:26]

and...

... it made an American president, for the first time in history, bow to a Muslim King. [6:29]

The video makes many other claims, most of which are far too subjective to be worthy of consideration, let alone on-topic here.

I'm interested in only the following claim: Obama is the first U.S. president to bow to a Muslim King.

And I see two areas of easy contention. The first being the definition of a bow. Does the gesture shown in the video carry the significance of a "bow" in Muslim cultures?

And if what Obama did is considered a bow in the relevant culture, is he indeed the first president to have done it?

For bonus points, have other U.S. presidents bowed to other Muslim world leaders who did not carry the title of King?

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Flimzy
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  • Possibly notable -- He seems to do this whenever it's culturally appropriate: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2009/11/obama-emperor-akihito-japan.html – Brendan Long Feb 12 '12 at 21:58
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    To quote wiki: "In Islam, it is a sin to bow to anyone but God." - it is not a Muslim sign of deference between 2 people. Internationally, a bow can mean simply respect, sincerity, etc - not just deference or subservience. – Marc Gravell Feb 12 '12 at 22:49
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    Wow. I watched as much as I could of that video (about 2 or 3 minutes). It has caused me some self-reflection and revelation! I've looked back at my own history and the topics I have ever talked about (which apparently, when taken out of context, is evidence that I hold them as sacred), and realised *I* am a Muslim! And a Jew! And a Christian! And a buddhist/athiest/lawyer/lesbian/politician/pro-sports-playing bar-tender. Hooray for lowering the bar for evidence! – Oddthinking Feb 13 '12 at 00:40
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    As soon as you start searching on this, you come across claims that there is an established protocol establishing that US Presidents ought not to bow. Regrettably, they don't speak to that in the FAQ at the Office of the Chief of Protocol (http://www.state.gov/s/cpr/). Presumably the Chief of Protocol simply lifts his or her eyebrows significantly as appropriate. – Larry OBrien Feb 13 '12 at 01:40
  • impossible to prove or disprove as there's no complete record available. If it were common practice it'd not be mentioned in the records, if it were exceptional it might still not be mentioned if the meeting was secret or private (and thus no people there to make a note of it). – jwenting Feb 13 '12 at 07:03
  • @jwenting: Clearly disproving it need not depend on a complete record. Furthermore, it may be that a complete record is possible to come by if the number of meetings between a U.S. president and a "Muslim King" is sufficiently small (and recent). – Flimzy Feb 13 '12 at 07:07
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    why "recent"? If it happened 200 years ago Obama'd still not be "the first". Playing devil's advocate here, I don't like the guy one bit and IMO he was groveling to his masters, but the claim deserves to be treated in an unbiased manner. – jwenting Feb 13 '12 at 09:57
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    So what should he have done, spat on the king??? – UncleBens Feb 13 '12 at 17:19
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    Using the video's out-of-context quote-mining technique, I'm pretty sure someone could prove that Bill O'Reilly is a black lesbian. – Zano Feb 13 '12 at 18:59
  • @jwenting: More recent diplomatic visits generally have more complete and accurate documentation (especially with photographic or video evidence). This is why I said that more recent visits might be more valuable in this context. Also, diplomatic visits by presidents are much more common in the last 50 years, thanks to the advent of air travel, than ever before. The first presidential visit to Africa took place in the 1940's, for instance. So this really narrows down the time frame for a possible "bow" to have taken place by another president. – Flimzy Feb 13 '12 at 19:13
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    Makes about as much sense as accusing Nixon of being a commie because he was the first to recognise China. – matt_black Feb 14 '12 at 23:11
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    @matt_black - There were many who did just that(at least a commie symathiser). Some would even say he was the one that put us on the path that lead to the position where they were able to gain an upper hand economically. – Chad Feb 21 '12 at 14:24
  • Apparently the [White House](http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/04/10/obamas-apparent-bow-saudi-king-outrages-conservatives/) claims it wasn't a bow at all. – Flimzy Feb 23 '12 at 09:15
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    Apparently Obama [bows to a lot of people (and things)](http://www.thewire.com/politics/2014/04/a-not-so-brief-list-of-all-the-things-president-obama-has-bowed-to/361160/) though some of them may be closer to a nod – Henry Feb 28 '16 at 00:19

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George W Bush bowed to, hugged, kissed, and walked in the garden holding hands with that same Saudi king. So the answer is clearly no.

The bow occurred in January 2008, while receiving a medal from King Abdullah. The visit was reported by many news providers, including CNN and Fox News.

It is likely that other previous (and subsequent) Presidents have also exchanged various courtesies with foreign leaders, including Muslim ones.

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    Can you cite specific, reliable websites? At least some of the hits were to websites that aren't reliable sources. – Andrew Grimm Dec 06 '12 at 20:02
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    For example, the first hit for the first search is to abovetopsecret.org, which promotes a lot of debunked claims, and the second hit is to reformation.org, which says that "It seems that Allah has now invaded the White House." – Andrew Grimm Dec 06 '12 at 21:19
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    I am prepared to accept this answer, if a reliable source can be cited. Pictures of GWB with an otherwise random man in Muslim garb does not qualify as proof that GWB bowed to a _king_. – Flimzy Dec 06 '12 at 21:42
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    It looks like Bush is "bowing" because the king is about a put a medal on him / over his head. – ChrisW Dec 07 '12 at 02:12
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    The bowing, as @ChrisW notes, doesn't look anything like a bow. But the hand-holding ones look more plausible, given there seem to be multiple takes from different positions and times. – Benjol Dec 07 '12 at 12:52
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    @ChrisW : When you receive a medal it's a custom to bow. That's real bowing. – Christian Dec 07 '12 at 16:28
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    That kiss looks very poorly photoshopped... – rurouniwallace Apr 23 '13 at 00:44
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    The "bow" is not a bow, as @ChrisW pointed out, and this is therefore not a true answer to the question. – Mr. Bultitude Jun 02 '15 at 00:03
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    @ChrisW But if we want to go down that road ("what even is a bow?"), a white house aid [denied](https://www.politico.com/blogs/ben-smith/2009/04/white-house-no-bow-to-saudi-017442) that Obama's movement was a bow. – tim Sep 27 '19 at 13:26
  • Receiving a medal is not a bow –  Sep 27 '19 at 20:38