Representative Tips Hat to Karzai
Davis' coonskin cap goes to Afghan prez
By Richard Powelson
Knoxville News Sentinel
June 13, 2005

WASHINGTON - U.S. Rep. Lincoln Davis took his authentic Tennessee coonskin cap to Afghanistan and left it there to return a favor to that country's president, Hamid Karzai.

Davis, an East Tennessee Democrat, said he left his 30-year-old cap, still in mint condition, with U.S. embassy officials in Afghanistan about a week ago to present to Karzai upon his return from a business trip.

The old-style cap uses the entire raccoon fur - including head and tail. Davis said in an interview that he wanted the gift to emphasize his appreciation to Karzai for giving him one of the president's gray rectangular animal-skin hats on another congressional trip last December.

Karzai, often photographed wearing one of his distinctive Afghan-style hats, offered Davis one hat after the congressman complimented it.

"I wanted him to know that there are those of us in this country who appreciate the work that he is doing," Davis said of his gift. "And I thought that this would be a good gesture of something that I have valued and the family has valued, and I wanted to share this with him."

Davis and two other congressmen were in the area to visit with U.S. troops in Afghanistan and to meet with government officials in four countries.

The coonskin cap was purchased by Davis in 1975 when he was state Jaycees president and wanted to wear it in a parade that in part highlighted period clothing. He also wore it at Bush's second inaugural ceremony in January.

In an explanatory note left for Karzai with the coon cap, Davis wrote a brief history of the cap and enclosed a copy of a News Sentinel article about Davis' excitement when Karzai gave him one of the president's Afghan hats. He keeps it on display in his Washington, D.C., office.

The coonskin cap's long history includes the days of the early 1800s when Davy Crockett, born in Greene County, was known for wearing one. Others donned similar caps over the years, including U.S. Sen. Estes Kefauver, D-Tenn., who wore his in the Senate chamber during his first day on the job in 1949.

Davis wore his coonskin cap in January outside the Capitol during the very chilly inaugural activities.

Many current-day "coonskin caps" do not use the real fur or do not have the coon head.

Davis said he was careful to check with cultural experts in advance to make sure Karzai would not take offense at the gift of a cap made from an entire raccoon skin. The experts reassured him, he said, that the cap would not offend.

But it could be weeks before Davis gets any confirmation that Karzai received the cap and whether he likes it.