Spring Break
Taking the global stage: Obama seems everywhere
Associated Press
Issue date: 4/2/09 Section: News
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And that was only the beginning. It was an eventful first day on the world stage for President Barack Obama, launching new arms control talks, placing China ties on fresh footing and calming fears about the ailing U.S. economy - seemingly everywhere, relaxed and smiling all the while.
While wife Michelle attracted breathless attention with every stop, fashionable outfit and sip of tea.
The new U.S. president, in London for Thursday's high-stakes global summit on the financial meltdown, seemed to be everywhere on Wednesday.
School children ran alongside his nearly 20-vehicle motorcade.
He was asked to give a pep talk to England's soccer team for its World Cup qualifying match (he politely declined) and to offer campaign tips to embattled British Prime Minister Gordon Brown ("good policy is good politics," he said).
There was even a chance to talk dinosaurs with Brown's young sons - and to snare two hours of quality time with Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace.
"Michelle has been really thinking that through," Obama said, presumably referring to the daunting clothes dilemma posed by an audience with royalty. Mrs. Obama chose a black skirt and sweater over a white top and a double strand of large pearls.
Before that meeting at the palace: diplomacy of a different sort.
Brown, his dour demeanor one factor in his shaky political standing, said effusively that Obama had provided "renewed hope" all around the world. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, whose nation has often assailed the U.S., offered his own praise, albeit more measured. His first meeting with Obama, he said, left him "far more optimistic" about Washington-Moscow relations.
Undeterred by a bad cold, Obama held a whirlwind of one-on-one talks with those and other leaders, including Chinese President Hu Jintao. He aimed not just to lay the groundwork for Thursday's summit of the 20 largest wealthy and developing economies but also more broadly to initiate a new era in American foreign relations.
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