The Short Staircase and an International Incident
Most of us have seen the famous images of US presidents descending from Air Force One via the 18 foot tall staircase. Recently however, these images have become less common. This is because President Biden has been opting to use another shorter set of stairs to enter and exit Air Force One. Because of this, media sources and the general public have been criticizing the president and calling him weak. How could a simple staircase have such a great impact on a president’s public image? Well, the use of the same staircase once led to the outbreak of an international incident.
In 2016, President Obama was en route to the G20 summit in China. For one reason or another, he ended up exiting the plane on the short stairs, angering the Chinese government. Until this point, President Obama had rarely ever used these stairs. But why did President Obama not use the famous and grand 18 foot staircase?
There is debate about what truly happened behind closed doors to set off this incident. According to the US government, China had approved a rolling staircase to be used upon President Obama’s arrival. However, they abruptly backed out of this agreement when Air Force One was already on its way to China. For unclear reasons, the Chinese government decided that they wanted the president to use their own set of stairs instead of the set that had been transported from the United States. White House officials were reluctant to have the president use these stairs because of security issues, but they ultimately decided that President Obama would be allowed to disembark using the Chinese staircase. However, there was a long delay, and it was eventually revealed that China would not comply with US government requests to have an English speaking driver bring the stairs to the plane. White House officials were insistent on having an English speaker to brief them on safety procedures and protocol, but the Chinese government would not budge. The Chinese offered a translator to the US government, but even this could not convince officials that it would be secure for President Obama. After spending a significant amount of time negotiating with Chinese officials, the US government made the decision that it would be safest for President Obama to disembark using the short set of stairs on Air Force One.
Needless to say, the Chinese government and its officials were livid. They saw President Obama’s descent from the short stairs as an act of great disrespect toward their country. The grand photos of US presidents descending into a foreign country and waving regally at cameras all around are staples in international politics. They are meant to show cordiality and respect for whichever country the US president is entering. This proved to be a very rocky start to the G20 Summit which China had worked very hard to run smoothly.
Even now, there are many unknowns surrounding this situation. Did China arrange this entire incident to give the United States a bad international reputation? Why did the US have such great reluctance to allow President Obama to use the Chinese stairs? What really happened in all the negotiations that pushed White House officials to make their final decision?
This incident clearly shows that much more than you would think goes into the image of the United States and its leader. Short stairs, long stairs, red ties, blue ties, playing basketball, tripping on a sandbag, can all affect how our country and our leader are viewed by countries across the globe.
This was the politics, stay tuned for the dinner: a delicious fusion of Chinese-American ingredients! I hope you have enjoyed the second Politics for Dinner article, and please feel free to reach out with any questions.
