By
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON - President Bush has launched a "personal diplomacy" offensive that will be the hallmark of his foreign policy, calling scores of foreign leaders and planning his first trip abroad this week, White House chief of staff Andrew Card says.
"He will respect the rules of diplomacy, but he won't be afraid to (build) personal relationships that help facilitate America's position in the world," Card said in an Associated Press interview. "He will practice personal diplomacy because he knows that it can make a difference."
Card made the comment at the end of his third week in office, pausing during another 16-hour work day to discuss a wide range of topics - from his colorful first impression of Bush, to his role in the "care and feeding" of the president and his demands for dignity in the White House.
Chatting for 45 minutes in his critical-corner West Wing office, Card displayed an easygoing charm that marked his work as deputy White House chief of staff and transportation secretary under Bush's father, or "No. 41," as he calls the elder Bush, distinguishing him from the current (and 43rd) president.
Before a single question was asked, Card offered a testimonial to his boss. "He is hardworking. He does read his briefing papers. He is extremely attentive to both the written word and verbal word," Card said, offering out of reflex a response to critics who questioned Bush's intellect and work habits during the presidential campaign. "He's also early to rise and stays working right up until the final gun goes off to go to bed."
The interview itself focused on the style and substance of his job. Card said, for example, that there are three "relatively crass categories" of White House staff duties:
One is "the care and feeding of the president." He said it is vital to make sure Bush is well fed and well rested, that his car and helicopters arrive promptly and that he has time for the most basic human demands: "to get a haircut and ... to go to the bathroom."
The second category is "Policy formulation." Card ensures foreign, domestic and economic policies are coordinated.
Lastly comes "marketing and selling." In other words, good public relations. His staff must make sure "the right people understand (the president's) decisions at the right time," Card said. "The audience varies from interest to interest. It could be a special interest. It could be Congress. It could be a foreign leader. It could be the American people."
Card has demanded that aides show proper respect for the president and the White House. "He is 'Mr. President.' This is not a casual relationship," Card said. And he has ordered male staffers to wear coats and ties during week days. Women, too, are told to be "appropriately dressed."
Such formality is a far cry from the first time Card laid eyes on the president years ago -when the elder Bush was U.N. ambassador and had invited Card to the family's Maine retreat. "I fully expected to see Yale" in the younger Bush, "and I got West Texas," Card said.
"He was wearing jeans. He had on a wrinkled tattered shirt, cowboy boots. A little brown drool (was) coming out of his mouth because he was chewing tobacco," Card said with a laugh. "He was holding a Styrofoam cup that he was spitting into. And I'm thinking to myself, 'THAT'S George Bush?"
It's the same man who heads to Mexico on Friday for his first foreign trip; who made 29 calls to foreign leaders in his first three weeks as president; and who plans to reach out to even more leaders in April at the Summit of Americas, Card said, and make relationship-building the focus of his early foreign policy.
Bush can practice "diplomacy in the formal sense" but he has a knack for building what Card called "relationships through diplomacy, which can make a difference."
The president will play "an active role" in the Middle East, though Card suggested that not much can be expected out of the peace process until Israel's new leader, Ariel Sharon, builds a government.
Card said the world is filled with trouble spots, from the Balkans to the Korean peninsula. "Russia is not the same as other countries because Russia has nuclear weapons," Card said. "Countries that have nuclear weapons ... rise to a different level of concern."
