World leaders seek Crawford invitations
Posted on 03/30/2002 5:29:26 AM PST by MeekOneGOP
World leaders seek Crawford invitations
Bush taking 'special allies and special friends' to his ranch
03/30/2002
WASHINGTON - The Russian president has already visited. The British prime minister is coming next week. And the crown prince of Saudi Arabia is waiting his turn.
Around the world, it's the Western White House that matters most these days the 1,600-acre ranch in Central Texas that President Bush calls home.
April 5-7 British Prime Minister Tony Blair Late April Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah Tentative in October Chinese President Jiang Zemin
When Mr. Bush's father was president, he liked to entertain foreign leaders at Walker's Point in Kennebunkport, Maine. Some of his guests were: Jordanian King Hussein Japanese Prime Minister Toshiki Kaifu British Prime Minister John Major French President Francois Mitterrand Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin Danish Prime Minister Poul Schlueter Saudi Prince Saud al-Faisal |
"A lot of world leaders are very intrigued by the Texas experience," said White House counselor Karen Hughes.
And a lot of not-so-subtle feelers have gone out, seeking that special presidential invitation, just as they did when Mr. Bush's father, the 41st president, retreated to his vacation home in Kennebunkport, Maine.
Mr. Bush "opened the door" to his ranch near Crawford with Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit in November, said White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card, and still other "special allies and special friends" will surely be invited later.
"I don't think it's that Machiavellian," he said, confronting the obvious questions of who, when and why. "It's where the president likes to go."
Like his father, Mr. Bush favors the personal touch. He's most at ease, friends and aides say, away from the White House, at Camp David in Maryland's Catoctin Mountains, or particularly back in Texas.
Now, with British Prime Minister Tony Blair and his family arriving Friday, Mr. Bush is moving ahead with a new round of personal ranch diplomacy.
"It's a balance," Ms. Hughes said, "because the ranch is obviously a place where he's able to retreat."
He can jog, clear brush and fish in the small pond that he has built, in the kind of privacy he can enjoy in few other places, aides say. At the same time, he's got the secure video-conferencing links and other communications equipment and staff necessary to command the ongoing war against terrorism and conduct the other ever-pressing business of the presidency no matter where he is on the ranch.
More farm than ranch
Actually, Prairie Chapel Ranch, as the president calls it, is more farm than ranch. Years ago, cotton was the money crop. Later, it was turkeys and hogs.
"You raised whatever you could to make a living," said neighbor Larry Mattlage.
Now, Mr. Bush, well settled in his new ranch house, is clearing the cedar and underbrush from the ravines. Some of the old outbuildings have been razed, and a helipad and other facilities have sprouted up for him and a vast support staff that make it easier for him to entertain world leaders.
Since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, security is even tighter, with military fighter jets patrolling the skies when the president is there.
"It ain't like it used to be," groused Mr. Mattlage, annoyed by the noisy jets. "But if you live by the railroad tracks long enough, you don't hear the trains."
The president's ranch, though, is secluded, and not the sort of tourist attraction that his father's oceanside Walker's Point estate is in the resort community of Kennebunkport.
"It is his private reserve," said Mark McKinnon, who has advised Mr. Bush on media and political matters since he was governor of Texas. And it has just enough of the "old mythical West" to intrigue foreign leaders.
"It sends a message to whoever is coming ... that they're getting a special place at the table," Mr. McKinnon said, "and it gives the president a little home field advantage."
Maine coastal tours
It was the same at Kennebunkport for Mr. Bush's father, who liked nothing better than taking his guests on a hair-raising tour of the rocky Maine coast on his cigarette boat, Fidelity.
Sometimes, they would fish. Sometimes not. And sometimes his foreign guests were simply not enthralled with the prospect.
French President Francois Mitterrand, for one, balked.
"President Bush would say, 'Do you want to go out on the fishing boat?,' " recalled Mr. Bush's former press secretary, Marlin Fitzwater. "And Mitterrand would say, 'Well, I think I'll see you when you get back.' "
On the other hand, Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney always felt at home, whether fishing or teaming with the president against the White House stewards for a quick game of horseshoes.
"Mulroney loved it," Mr. Fitzwater said, noting his visits and those of other world leaders had the added benefit of building a rather unique rapport.
"Everybody wants to go to the home place," Mr. Fitzwater said.
Guest book
During Mr. Bush's four years as president, the Kennebunkport guest book was quick to fill with world leaders, summoned for a summit or simply for supper.
In addition to Mr. Mitterrand and Mr. Mulroney, the guest list included British Prime Minister John Major, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, Danish Prime Minister Poul Schlueter, Japanese Prime Minister Toshiki Kaifu, Jordanian King Hussein and Prince Saud al-Faisal, the foreign minister of Saudi Arabia.
In Texas, the guest book of world leaders has just been opened. Mr. Putin was the first overnight guest in November. Mr. Blair is coming next weekend, and Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia is expected in late April.
Mr. Bush has also invited Chinese President Jiang Zemin to the United States in October, with the ranch a likely stop.
Works in progress
Terrorism is at the top of each working agenda these days, but aides say nearly every other aspect of the ranch visits are very much works in progress.
For Mr. Putin, the president and first lady Laura Bush hosted a small dinner party on the breezeway of their ranch house, complete with a Texas swing band, and took the Russian leader down the road the next day to Crawford High School for nearly an hour of questions and answers.
In between, Mr. Bush, a self-proclaimed "windshield rancher," showed his guest around the ranch, at first from behind the wheel of a white Ford pickup.
Usually, though, Mr. Bush favors green-and-yellow John Deere Gators, the four-wheeled utility vehicles that he says are a "little more compassionate" than most horses.
'Nice, long walks'
And then there are what Mr. Bush calls the "nice, long walks," where he and his guests can explore the far canyons of his ranch.
"The best diplomacy starts with getting to know each other," he said at the start of the Putin visit.
Mr. McKinnon warns, however, that water moccasins lurk in the canyon creeks and jokes that "if the president suggests any visiting dignitaries take a dip, it's a good sign things are not going well."
With Mr. Blair, aides say Mr. Bush is planning an easygoing couple of days at the ranch, with a pair of small dinner parties and a joint meeting with reporters next Saturday.
On this visit at least, Mr. Bush will have a head start, since the two leaders are regular visitors.
Mr. Blair has already been to the White House and Camp David, and he was the president's guest in the House gallery for his Sept. 20 address to a joint session of Congress. And Mr. Bush has been to Mr. Blair's country home outside London, Chequers.
Even at their first meeting at Camp David, there was an early bond.
"We both use Colgate toothpaste," the president readily disclosed.
E-mail bhillman@dallasnews.com
Is there a thread that discusses the new software format here on FR?
I thought this was funny......
Mr. McKinnon warns, however, that water moccasins lurk in the canyon creeks and jokes that "if the president suggests any visiting dignitaries take a dip, it's a good sign things are not going well."
The name says it all. I love this president.
We are reaping what we have sewn with the 2000 embrace of the abortion-loving, quota-coddling, enemy-appeasing Colin Powell into the fold.
BWAHAHAHAH!!! What a wuss!! Afraid of a little boat ride? BTW, how's that non-seaworthy aircraft carrier you Frenchie guys built? BWAHAHAHAHA!!!!!
The only misleading part of the article is ref: the 'small' pond. The protection Ft. Hood provides was the biggest selling point but #2 was the opinion of bio-engineers whether the ranch could support stock ponds big and bad enough to breed 'lunker' bass.
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