Why wouldn't he want to be in that meeting? Why would he have to insist on a private meeting? This sounds as though he was having two subordinates work out something he was only supervising.
Why wouldn't he want to be in that meeting? Why would he have to insist on a private meeting? This sounds as though he was having two subordinates work out something he was only supervising.
As I read it, the "his" in that sentence refers to GWB's insistence, not Nagin's.
I think that it was appropriate for the president, on behalf of the federal government, to meet privately with the governor, the head of the state government. In a private setting, they could be brutally candid with each other without pressure to "play nice" with each other.
I can hardly envision the possibility of a governor and the president bowing to the 'insistence' of a feckless mayor.