The Accidental American: Tony Blair and the Presidency

An award-winning political journalist shows what the passionate and puzzling relationship between Tony Blair and America reveals about our two countries and our disordered world.

Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair is the most popular foreign leader in the United States, and one whose support for America has made him widely reviled at home. Why did Blair become such an object of fascination here? What are Democrats to make of their old friend's attachment to Bush? In a Europe profoundly skeptical about a new American imperialism, why did Blair decide to face resolutely west across the Atlantic?

To James Naughtie, a renowned British journalist with unparalleled knowledge of Blair and a deep understanding of American politics, the story of our love affair with Blair provides a fascinating mirror on the troubles facing Western democracies, and on America itself. In The Accidental American, the first book about Blair written specifically for American readers, he explores how a politician swept to power by a party once avowedly socialist came to make common cause with American neo-conservatives, and became the gatekeeper between America and Western Europe.

Though Blair has been feted by Congress and is beloved by the White House, his real beliefs about America remain almost unknown. Naughtie has watched Blair close-up for many years and has many contacts inside his circle of friends and advisors. In the tumult of a presidential election year, this book provides a revelatory portrait of a master politician and revelatory insights into the politics and character of our own country.

"British journalist Naughtie chronicles the unlikely alliance between Labour Prime Minister Blair and his conservative Republican counterpart in the White House. Great emphasis is placed on the aftermath of 9/11 and the leadup to the Iraq war, during which Blair defied his fellow European leaders, and much of his own party, by supporting the use of force to oust Saddam Hussein. Naughtie's character sketch of the British prime minister works against charges that he was merely a 'dupe' of the neoconservatives, or, as some commentators unfavorably described him, 'Bush's poodle.' Rather, Blair emerges as a man of deep conviction, a strong Christian faith and a consistent belief that force can be used to accomplish a moral purpose, as was evidenced by the Western intervention in Kosovo and Bosnia. Following a familiar narrative on the post-9/11 Blair, Naughtie finds him taking the opportunity to act as a bridge between the United States and Europe: Blair shared the Americans' sense of threat and willingness to use force, but he also respected the European opposition to unilateralism and the need to work through institutions. Despite criticism, and even resignations from his own cabinet, Blair, as we see him here, never wavered in his belief that Operation Iraqi Freedom was a just cause. Naughtie offers little that's new on Blair, but connects all the dots cleanly. (Sept.)" Publishers Weekly (Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information, Inc.)

"What Mr. Naughtie has done...is to bring context and texture to a complex and often baffling relationship that for Mr. Blair has yielded the defining moments of his leadership as much as it may yet threaten the statesman's legacy he has sought to build." Alan Cowell, The New York Times

"This book is written mainly from a British perspective, but is informed by his many visits to the United States. Naughtie details the history of Britain's involvement in the Iraq war..." Providence Journal

Naughtie, a longtime journalist, has watched Tony Blair's 20-year transformation from nervous Parliament rookie in a Labour Party pitched ideologically against the US to one of the most dominating prime ministers of the last century and a player in American politics, bolstering the president of a divided country and becoming one his ambassadors abroad in a time of turmoil. Naughtie sees Blair's surprising alliance with George W. Bush as both one of the unlikeliest of our age, and also one of the most potent; he traces how loyalty to America became Blair's political priority. Naughtie, a lead anchor BBC Radio 4 and the Guardian's former chief political correspondent, studied at Syracuse U. and has often visited the US.
Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

An award-winning political journalist shows what the passionate and puzzling relationship between Tony Blair and America reveals about our two countries and our disordered world.

James Naughtie is a renowned program presenter on the BBC, and a former chief political correspondent of The Guardian. He is an award-winning broadcaster and writer who has contributed to many newspapers and magazines, and was Laurence M. Stern Fellow on the Washington Post. Naughtie, who studied at Syracuse University, is a frequent visitor to the United States. He lives in London with his family.

1 Unlikely allies 1
2 From Westphalia to the west wing 18
3 The accident 39
4 The axis of friendship 66
5 The cowboy 94
6 Crazy for war 119
7 The riddle of the sands 149
8 Consequences 180
9 The loner 209