The American Prime Minister

Why Blair has gained rare influence: he has strengths that Bush lacks

You can see the stress in his face. Over the past few months, Tony Blair, the British Prime Minister, has evolved from the buoyant, almost boyish persona of his recent past. The eyes have sunk into his forehead; the hair has receded; gray now frames his face, and that arched left eyebrow, once almost playful, has become etched in place. When he rose in the House of Commons last week to defend his precarious political position and urge the rambunctious deputies to go to war, he finally seemed old. A man once derided as slippery in his political pragmatism had become...

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