Tony Blair: the best President the United States never had?

[Geee]

UK Telegraph:

Tony Blair: the best President the United States never had?
He could never run for the White House because he was not born in the United States but, argues Toby Harnden, Tony Blair could have been the ideal American candidate.

By Toby Harnden, American Way
Published: 2:00PM BST 04 Sep 2010


Tony Blair: More self-disciplined that Clinton, more analytical than Bush and more practical and centrist than Obama Photo:

It was fitting that Tony Blair should have been in Washington taking part in the Middle East summit when his startlingly candid memoir A Journey was published in the USA.

While he left office as a derided and diminished figure in Britain, on this side of the Pond he was still treated with near reverence by Left and Right.

Over the past decade, the easiest way of bonding with an American of any political stripe has been to make a joke about the French or praise Blair.

When I interviewed Justice Sandra Day O'Connor of the US Supreme Court shortly after the Iraq invasion, she began gushing, unprompted, about Blair. "He's so articulate," she said. "He really made the case [for war] very well."

Republicans admire him for his support for George W. Bush over Iraq and Blair still maintains: "The stupidest misconception was that he was stupid."

Democrats will never forget how he stood with Bill Clinton during the Monica Lewinsky scandal. Indeed, in his book Blair defends him as not lying but "not wanting to embarrass his family" and explains his affairs as arising "in part from his inordinate interest in and curiosity about people".

But the affection Americans have for Blair stretches beyond personalities. I'll never forget witnessing the address he delivered to a joint session of both houses of Congress in July 2003.

He was interruptions by applause 35 times, 17 of which were standing ovations. Donald Rumsfeld, Bush's Pentagon chief, raised his hands in the air as he clapped. Senator Hillary Clinton, Bush's would-be successor, mouthed: "Good job."