Condi's Gifts to Reporters: An Atlas and a Smile

Posted on February 5, 2005

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice surprised reporters who are traveling with her on her first official trip abroad in her new role as our chief diplomat. She gave a pocket atlas to every reporter traveling with her on the 12,560-mile trip -- with 10 stops from Europe to the Mideast and back -- and quipped: "I would not want anybody to feel lost." You know, I have to say that Condi always looks fabulous. In London, she was wearing a tailored brown and black plaid suit with gold jewelry and heels. Seemingly determined to launch a charm offensive against Old Europe, Condi actually got German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder to laugh uproariously. Wasn't Schroeder the guy who ran his entire re-election campaign on how much he hated George Bush? Ah, the strange world of diplomacy.