Reply #9: Pres. Clinton talked to the leader of North Korea and ...

[madison]

Back in the Cold War days, there were a few occasions when an American president raced off to a "summit meeting" with some "difficult" foreign leader and ended up humiliated and disgusted. From that time on, American presidents never went to any summit meeting until a whole lot of preliminary work had been done by lower-level officials who had discussions about: the agenda, who would be part of the meeting, how long the meeting would go, where the meeting would take place, and how many side meetings would occur between lower level diplomats over "smaller" issues.

American presidents vowed never again to be put into an awkward or humiliating situation -- or used for propaganda purposes by foreign leaders who scored more domestic points by NOT negotiating in good faith than they would by actually engaging in serious negotiation.

I find it hard if not impossible to believe that any current-day American president would promise to engage in any highest-level talks with "difficult" foreign leaders unless and until serious preliminary work had been done and ground rules and an agenda set.

President Clinton never hesitated to talk to any foreign leader, but he never promised to do so until quiet, low-level talks had been held and plans made.

Hillary Clinton and Bill Clinton share a world view and both have a deep understanding of how the world works, politically and economically. If she were to become our president, Hillary Clinton would be as willing and eager to engage in talks with all foreign leaders as her husband always was, but she understands -- as does Barack Obama -- that both President Eisenhower and President Kennedy were wounded by going to such "summit" talks without making certain that all parties understood what the talks were to be about, what the areas of agreement and disagreement were, who would be the participants in the talks, and how long the talks would last.

-- from The New York Times: "After the debate, David Axelrod, a top Obama adviser, elaborated on Mr. Obama’s statement, telling the National Review that Mr. Obama would initiate talks 'just as during the Cold War there were low-level discussions and mid-level discussions between us and the Soviet Union,' but that he was 'not promising summits' with the leaders of those rogue nations."

There could not be two more different presidencies than those of President Clinton and George W. Bush. For instance, Clinton talked to the leader of North Korea and worked out a treaty agreement with North Korea regarding their nuclear program. When Bush became president, he dismissed the agreement and would not comply with the treaty Clinton had made. Now, six years later, Bush has finally come around to wanting that same treaty arrangement, except during the years Bush wasted with his posturing, North Korea developed a few nuclear weapons that they did not have when Clinton was president.