No Chris, I dont believe that he came up with the idea for the gift. I honestly dont believe that he came up with even half of the other issues that you listed. The President is nothing more than a puppet. Bush was so was Clinton. Nothing more than a fall guy for the political parties. Look at Bush, everyone wanted to go to war after the 9/11 attack. When the media made it unpopular, he was the fall guy. When things were going good in the Bush camp, everyone but Bush got the credit. Same thing will happen with Obama. The media will never again let a President maintain a positive approval rating.