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Barack’s Continental Coolness

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By GAIL COLLINS
Published: April 3, 2009

If nothing else, the president’s trip overseas helped resolve the
longstanding question of who can be more irritating, the Republicans
or the French.
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Tony Cenicola/The New York Times

Gail Collins
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Related
The Conversation: White House Time Bombs (April 2, 2009)
Times Topics: Barack Obama
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Before we pursue that thought any further, let’s agree that the Obamas
wowed them in Europe. We were expecting a good reception, given the
fact that the previous administration set the bar so low that Barack
was able to get hysterical applause just by telling a crowd of
students that Americans don’t believe in torturing people.

Back home, we’re just grateful that we don’t have to sit on the edge
of our collective seats wondering how the president will embarrass us
next. No more worrying that our chief executive might surprise Angela
Merkel with a come-from-behind massage or fall in love with the
president of Russia when their eyes meet across a crowded room.

In London, Obama was the most popular guy in the gang. When President
Nicolas Sarkozy of France and China’s Hu Jintao got into a squabble,
Obama took them off to separate corners and resolved the conflict, to
universal applause. True, it only required switching the word
“recognizing” to “note,” but in diplomatic circles, that’s what cool
is all about.

“Look,” the G-20ers must have been telling each other, “he can resolve
the controversy over the use of the Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development’s list of tax havens, and he knows the
difference between Australia and Austria. Surely, this is a new kind
of American leader.”

And then it was off to France, where the Michelle-mania spiked as the
first lady and her French counterpart, the former fashion model Carla
Bruni, went outfit-to-outfit. They both had bows on their coats! The
wardrobe commentary was, to be honest, a bit much. However, perhaps we
should be grateful to the wives for changing their clothes so
frequently. It took our minds off the unemployment figures and allowed
the news media to avoid having to cover the discussions on special
drawing rights.