PRESIDENT DOES THE GOOD STUFF
A foreign leader is about to arrive at the White House. The flags of the visiting nation ripple down Pennsylvania Avenue. Secretary of State James Baker hurries into the Oval Office to brief President Bush, telling him what the sore spots are, what favors will be asked, what aid will be sought. “Mubarak is going to ask for money,” Baker warns Bush before the Egyptian leader enters. “You’re going to have to say no.” “You tell him he can’t have any money,” the President replies. “Turning down money is the dirty work. That’s your job, Jimmy. I want to do the good stuff.” Maureen Down and Thomas L. Friedman in the New York Times Magazine
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