Home run: PM didn't fawn, Bush didn't get ugly

The Globe and Mail ^ | 1/15/04 | Lawrence Martin

[TastyManatees]

Home run: PM didn't fawn, Bush didn't get ugly
By LAWRENCE MARTIN

Never in Canada-U.S. history have a Liberal prime minister and a Republican president hit it off. Among the various reasons was a basic one: ideological differences.

Sir Wilfrid Laurier and Teddy Roosevelt set the trend a century ago. In a dispute over the Alaska boundary, intemperate Teddy announced, "I am going to be ugly." He proceeded to act accordingly, and the prime minister responded in kind.

Mackenzie King had distant relations with Calvin Coolidge, who, while hailing from the border state of Vermont, amazed Mr. King's coterie by asking if Toronto was near a lake. Louis St. Laurent and Dwight Eisenhower were rather remote as well, the prime minister almost dozing off in a meeting with Ike in 1956. As for Pierre Trudeau, he was hardly at ease with Richard Nixon or with Ronald Reagan, whose intellectual thinness was sometimes too much for Mr. Trudeau to bear.

Through it all, the Canada-U.S. relationship grew nicely, integrational tendencies proceeding apace no matter how much the men at the top differed.

In Monterrey, on Tuesday, Liberals and Republicans met again when Paul Martin sat down with George W. Bush. This President had no designs on being ugly. Remarkably, he had more the look of the supplicant. Prime Minister Martin walked away with two or three concessions while ceding nothing to Mr. Bush in return.

Though the deals were hardly major, one was enough to crack the CNN headlines: The network reported a Bush flip-flop in his allowing Canada to bid on Iraqi reconstruction contracts.

It's hard to recall another first meeting between a president and PM wherein the Canadian came out so clearly on top. In 1936, Mackenzie King left his initial get-together with Franklin Roosevelt with a trade package that Mr. King considered one of his big achievements. FDR thought he had outfoxed the prime minister.

First meetings, it should be said, are traditionally happy get-acquainted sessions, and should not be viewed as harbingers of any ensuing rapport. John Diefenbaker professed to being an admirer of John F. Kennedy after their first talks in Washington in 1961. The amicability lasted only until they got to know one another better.

Jean Chrétien and Mr. Bush got along well enough at their first encounter three years ago. But it was not long before the clash over the war prompted the President to go so far as to cancel a scheduled visit to Ottawa last spring. By bilateral standards, that was serious business.

But in Monterrey, it was a different Mr. Bush. The snooty arrogance was gone. He was complimentary about the government's — he could only mean the Chrétien government's — contribution in Afghanistan and postwar assistance in Iraq.

What caused the turnaround? Was this a chastened President?

Not likely. But some things seem clear. One is that on the issue that triggered the war, the alleged weapons of mass destruction, Canadian doubts proved correct while Mr. Bush's cocksuredness about their existence proved wrong. That may have given the President some pause. Another factor was that the President, pleased to be rid of the nettlesome Mr. Chrétien, wanted to show it by giving the new guy a break or two. A third consideration was timing. This is a U.S. election year. Criticized heavily for alienating so many allies with his unilateralist thrusts, Mr. Bush may wish to show Americans he can bring old allies, neighbours like Canada, back into the fold.

For Mr. Martin, it was critical not to have to put on any show of fawning to get the deal on Iraqi reconstruction and on safeguards against deporting Canadians. The new Prime Minister could have done without the "vibes were very good" headlines but he walked away from Monterrey without looking sycophantic.

That will continue to be critical in this relationship. Any obsequiousness with the President would solidify Mr. Martin's image as a right-wing Liberal, an image he does not wish to nurture.

An initial stretch of harmony is good, but it is unlikely that Mr. Martin wants to become the first Liberal prime minister to be buddies with a Republican president. Not only are there broad ideological differences with President Bush, this is not a President and Prime Minister who will find it easy to build a personal rapport. Their styles and tastes diverge. While Paul Martin is a reader of books, a man who likes to sit around and talk policy and ideas, the more monosyllabic Mr. Bush likes to talk baseball.

The new Prime Minister doesn't care much for that sport, though in his first meeting with the President Bush, it was he who hit the home run.

[Sunsong]

Read post #39 again.

[Levante]

"As for Pierre Trudeau, he was hardly at ease with Richard Nixon or with Ronald Reagan, whose intellectual thinness was sometimes too much for Mr. Trudeau to bear. "

Interesting (not) sketch of the man (Reagan) who faced down the Soviets.

Of course, I doubt this Alpha Hotel (L.Martin) knows anything about it. And I didn't care much for Nixon, but at least he knew what the arrogant French-wannabe Trudeau was...
AN A$$HOLE.