At Bush Ranch, It's Down-Home Diplomacy

Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2005 3:09 p.m. EDT

At Bush Ranch, It's Down-Home Diplomacy

President Bush has turned his remote ranch into a stage for down-home
diplomacy, where a barbecue grill and a pickup truck have become his
favorite tools for dealing with world leaders.

The 1,600-acre property in central Texas is a place where aides say
the president feels most comfortable and can spend more
get-to-know-you time with his guests than in hurried Washington. On
Thursday, Colombian President Alvaro Uribe will be the 14th foreign
leader to visit the ranch.

Bush's dog once wandered through a press conference with the
Australian prime minister. The president led the Saudi crown prince by
the hand through blooming bluebonnets. And Russia's president was
treated to a hoedown with cowboy cooks and a swing band.

"You only invite your friends into your house," Bush said when Russian
President Vladimir Putin became the first head of state to visit in
November 2001. "Occasionally, you let a salesman in, or two."

The ranch is outside Crawford, a one-stoplight town with 700
residents.

Ranch visits have been a reward, for example when Bush hosted leaders
from Europe, Australia and Japan who supported the war in Iraq. He's
also used ranch invitations as an enticement, like when he tried to
persuade China's president to help pressure North Korea to scrap its
nuclear weapons program.

Bush has used his private residence for entertaining heads of state in
a manner unlike any other president in 40 years. The others have
preferred to host their counterparts at the White House or the
presidential retreat at Camp David.

Except for last year when he was campaigning for re-election, Bush has
spent every August at his ranch since becoming president. With this
trip, he has made 51 ranch visits.

Perhaps it's something about their Texas roots, but the last president
to practice diplomacy at his home was Lyndon Johnson, who owned a
ranch about 100 miles south of the one Bush now owns.

Johnson's first guest was Ludwig Erhard, chancellor of the Federal
Republic of Germany, in December 1963. Presidential historian Thomas
Alan Schwartz of Vanderbilt University said the Germans at first
misunderstood the ranch invitation - thinking it was a slight compared
with the White House - but the visit turned out to be a success.
Johnson served Erhard barbecue and gave him a 10-gallon hat.

"There's sort of an odd similarity" between the way Bush and Johnson
went back to Texas," Schwartz said, pointing out that neither
president grew up on a ranch. "Having a ranch is sort of a symbol of
status in Texas."

There are no horses on Bush's Prairie Chapel Ranch. He calls himself a
"windshield rancher" and has delighted in giving VIPs a tour in his
white pickup or on his John Deere Gator. Foreign dignitaries also
usually get a Southern-inspired meal, like the fried catfish,
black-eyed pea slaw, mesquite-smoked beef brisket and pork ribs served
to Chinese President Jiang Zemin.

Meetings also are far less formal than those in the White House - the
dress code calls for an open-collar shirt with no tie and, at least
for Bush, cowboy boots and a big belt buckle.

There are often weighty matters at play behind the hospitality. Bush
has pressured the leaders of China and Japan to help stop North
Korea's nuclear ambitions, discussed plans for Middle East peace with
the heads of Egypt, Israel and Britain, and plotted Saddam Hussein's
removal with his war allies.

It was at the ranch that Bush, with Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria
Aznar at his side, announced the United States would submit a new
resolution to the U.N. Security Council to set the stage for war
against Iraq.

Bush made it clear that those who were against him wouldn't get the
honor of coming to Crawford. Angered at French President Jacques
Chirac's opposition to the war, Bush said, "I doubt he'll be coming to
the ranch anytime soon."

But a ranch rejection can cut both ways. Mexican President Vicente Fox
was to be the first head of state to visit Bush's ranch, but he
snubbed the invitation to protest the Texas execution of a convicted
police killer that Fox said was a Mexican national.

The dispute eventually faded, and Fox this year became one of only two
foreign leaders to visit the ranch twice. The other was Crown Prince
Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, a desert kingdom that the U.S. relies on for
oil imports. The friendship between the two nations was shaken by the
terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, and Arab anger over U.S. support
for Israel.

Bush said after Abdullah's first visit that the two forged a personal
bond in five hours of talks that went two hours over schedule and
included a pickup truck ride through the woods. Still, the two
exchanged some blunt talk - Abdullah voiced his disapproval of Bush's
policy toward Israel and Bush raised concerns about Saudis inciting
anti-Israel terror.

Four months later, Bush made a further conciliatory gesture by
inviting Prince Bandar bin Sultan, the Saudi ambassador to the United
States, who brought six of his eight children to the ranch.

When he prepared for Putin's visit, Bush said someone who gets to see
Texas gets to know his values. "The best diplomacy starts with getting
to know each other," the president said.

© 2005 The Associated Press
--

This guy does alright for the dumb-sum-bitch all liberals accuse him
of? Do you suppose this man will wind up tied with Ronnie Reagan
for all time greatest president? Now wouldn't that be a hoot?
.

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