President Obama bows to Emperor Akihito of Japan

U.S. President Barack Obama, left, bows as he is greeted by Japanese Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko, not pictured, as he arrives at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, Saturday, Nov. 14 2009


WHICH BOW INVITES MORE CRITICISM?


                                            OBAMA      OR     NIXON

Richard M. Nixon's bow to  Hirohito, the master mind in the Pearl Harbor, Hawaii attack in 1941 In a meeting in Alaska.


As a gesture that would surely catch the eyes of the conservative leaders in the United States, President Obama greeted the son of the father who ruled  Japan when Pearl Harbor was bombed in 1941. President Nixon actually bowed to Emperor Hirohito (top picture above), in a prominent photo from Life magazine in 1971.  With a deep bow, President Obama showed his respect to the current emperor, along with a hand shake. Criticism can be found all over the internet, and most of it is negative.  Back in 1994, President Clinton was criticized for almost bowing to Akihito. The gesture of respect by Obama will be echoed in the news for weeks after he returns back to the United States after the APEC summit.
President Obama does what he feels is right, and is looking to go beyond the sights of the bombing of Pearl Harbor, in an attempt to continue to spread peace throughout the world.
But the gesture goes with notice that other leaders, again on the Republican side as former President Bush bows to Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah in 2005 (shown below)......