Father Knows Best

July 1, 2997 — -- President Bush got a political pep talk from his father as he awaited the arrival of Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Bush compound in Kennebunkport, Maine, on Sunday.

In the hours before Putin's arrival, the 43rd president had the opportunity of getting advice from his father, the 41st president, who got high marks for his diplomatic handling of America's relationship with Russia during his term in office.

Sarah Mendelson, of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said personality and politics are a happy marriage when it comes to U.S.-Russian foreign policy.

"With Bush 41, good diplomacy is his personality," said Mendelson. "I think it's very hard to separate out what you see from his breeding, and the way in which he carries himself. He's the consummate statesman."

The older Bush was president when the Berlin Wall came down, when the Soviet Union was in disintegration and the Cold War was ending. But it could all have gone very wrong. Hardliners pressured Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to use force on Soviet republics that wanted to break away.

Foreign policy analysts commended Bush's handling of the situation and ability to avoid an all-out nuclear arms race.

Dimitri Simes is a foreign policy analyst who previously advised another president, Richard Nixon. Simes said the consequences could've been grave if Bush handled the circumstances any differently.

"There could be a civil war in the Soviet Union, in a country with nuclear weapons," said Simes. "There was a divorce between Russia and Ukraine, both with huge standing armies, both with nuclear weapons — there could be a real nightmare."

George H.W. Bush urged moderation. He was careful not to anger Russian hardliners by gloating over Moscow's problems. Instead, he offered sympathy and help.

"He was very much steady Eddie," said Mendelson. "There was a kind of cool and collected presence, and as it turned out, this really was the end — a few months later, the Soviet Union broke up."

But the current President Bush was faced with something very different — a Russia that was growing stronger, not weaker. At the beginning of his presidency, Bush had high praise for Putin.

"I found him to be very straightforward and trustworthy," Bush said in 2001.

But over time, both Putin and Bush became disillusioned. There were sharp disagreements, and not just over nuclear weapons. Putin cracked down on political opponents and fostered anti-Americanism.

Mendelson said the attitude in Russia is starkly different for the younger Bush.

"Young Russians think that the U.S. is enemy number one and this is, in part, because they are being encouraged to think that by the Kremlin and Kremlin authority," said Mendelson.

But this weekend, Bush is trying to reassure Russians that the U.S. is a friend, not a foe — following in the footsteps of his father and hoping that his personality will help to ease some of the building political pressure.