3. Lyndon Johnson was allegedly gifted an intellectually disabled Chinese chef by a Central American dictator
A longstanding tradition of the office of president, the head of state for the American nation has long endured being the recipient of unusual gifts. From the aforementioned colossal block of cheese to diplomatic overtures from foreign governments, including Nixon’s acceptance of two pandas in 1972 from the Chinese government, perhaps none was more unusual than a gift received by Lyndon Johnson. Detailed by Robert Kessler in Inside the White House, according to the veteran journalist the thirty-sixth President of the United States was incredulously gifted a Chinese chef by the name of “Mr. Wong” by a “Central American dictator”.
Supposedly arriving at the White House with a suitcase and straw hat, unable to speak a word of English, Wong was subsequently employed in the kitchens, given a bedroom on the property, and taught to replicate many of the commander-in-chief’s favorite dishes. Described by other staff as “like a child”, White House aide Bill Gulley has publicly detailed how, on one occasion, a trip to the president’s ranch was delayed after Wong started playing hide-and-seek in the East Room. Rarely discussed and remaining officially unverified, the story has become one of the most bizarre anecdotes in the White House’s history, with many theorizing the only plausible explanation was that Wong was actually a spy for the Chinese government.