Blair’s ‘heart sank’ when Bush was elected
Tony Blair’s “heart sank” when George Bush was elected president of the United States in 2000, Cherie Blair has revealed in her autobiography.
In the book, which is being serialised by the Times and the Sun, Ms Blair says her husband had developed a personal relationship with the Democratic candidate Al Gore.
“I think it’s fair to say our hearts sank when the result was finally ratified,” she recalled.
“In fact, Tony felt very strongly that Gore was playing it wrong and that he should have used Bill [Clinton] more, not distanced himself from him.”
Mr Blair then went on to forge one of the closest and most controversial relationships in Anglo-US relations, culminating in the invasion of Iraq.
In the book, Ms Blair describes how her husband differentiated Clinton and Bush’s leadership style. While both were from the south and had a tendency to “talk Texan”, only Mr Bush “thinks Texan”, Ms Blair writes.
