London — When President Biden realized he couldn’t sit with one of Europe’s youngest leaders at last year’s NATO summit in Madrid, he didn’t send a e-mail or SMS. He grabbed a pen.
He personally wrote a note to Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, which resulted in an invitation to the White House in early June for the 45-year-old leader. The Oval Office meeting lasted more than two hours – much longer than expected – and the prime minister was given the Biden family stamp of approval by his granddaughters, who had briefly met Frederiksen a year ago during of the NATO summit in Madrid.
“My granddaughters, who are bright young women, who have graduated from college and law school … still tell me about their meeting with the prime minister,” Mr Biden said.
While the lure of the US presidency transcends the administrations of many world leaders, Mr Biden’s blend of old-fashioned politics and family flair with his counterparts forms the backbone of his foreign policy in a unique way. among recent American leaders. Diplomats and foreign policy experts suggest that this personal and nostalgic approach is not only distinctive but also strategic, bolstering US credibility and moral authority, especially in the wake of the Trump administration.
“For Europe, it represents a nostalgia for the 20th century, which was based on shared values, when the West was strong and relations were clear with the Cold War,” said Liana Fix, European member of the Council on Foreign. Relationships. “President Biden is the former great transatlanticist.”
Honed over decades in the Senate and eight years as vice president, the president’s personal appeal has become one of his strongest assets on the world stage, allowing him to smooth ruffled feathers and lead a coalition. of allies who managed to remain remarkably united in their response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Experts said that approach will be put to the test again this week with Mr Biden in Lithuania for a high-stakes summit of NATO allies, where the contentious issue of Ukraine’s potential admission to the alliance is in the foreground.
The president’s interactions with other world leaders — whether in the Oval Office or in European capitals — also provide him with an opportunity to showcase his foreign policy experience at a time when many Americans doubt the president 80 years old has what it takes to serve another term. Recent CBS News Poll found that his age was the most cited reason some Democrats and independents said they didn’t think Mr Biden should run for re-election.
Although his age may be a liability at home, several diplomats who met Mr. Biden in some of the nearly two dozen countries he visited as president said his age was not a factor in their negotiations.
“He is sparing his time, but he is focused on the meeting at hand and the topics,” said a European official, speaking on condition of anonymity to describe sensitive conversations. “We see him handling the effort of being 80 versus 30, but we tend to be more impressed than anything else.”
For his part, the president seems to be considering the comment on his age. “I know I look like I’m only 29, but I’ve been here a long time,” Biden told diplomats at the White House recently. “As a friend of mine said, try to connect age and wisdom.”
Analysts said Mr. Biden, who is the ninth-oldest leader in the world according to the Pew Research Center, has been able to bridge age gaps with his counterparts and connect with much older world leaders. young people, many of whom are in their forties and born. after his two sons.
Dan Baer, senior vice president for policy research and director of the Europe program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said Mr Biden “has figured out how to relate to people who are the age of his children. in a respectful manner”. , and I think that deserves their respect from a cross-generational perspective because he’s seen a lot, he’s been there, and he doesn’t mince words or pretend.”
“He can’t change the fact that he’s 80, so he presents himself the way he does, and people find something in that that they can trust,” Baer added.
His embrace of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, 45, is perhaps the most vivid example of his ability to connect with a young leader. Since the approach of The invasion of Russia in February 2022, Mr. Biden threw the weight of a superpower behind the Ukrainian president, bolstering his war effort with billions of dollars in aid and firepower. The president will meet with Zelensky on Wednesday, the last day of the NATO summit.
While the United States would have an interest in supporting Ukraine no matter who leads it, the relationship between the two countries has been strengthened by the personal bond between Zelenskyy and Mr. Biden, punctuated by high-level one-on-one interactions. Late last year, Zelenskyy left Ukraine for the first time since the start of the war to visit the White House. Two months later, Mr. Biden visited Zelenskyy in Kyiv on a trip that was shrouded in secrecy.
“You really saw Biden putting his arm around Zelenskyy, encouraging him to keep leading as if suggesting, ‘I got your back,'” Fix said. “It’s a grandfather call, and the warmth and wisdom of his age seems to transfer.”
Whether it’s part of his playbook or purely his personality, Mr. Biden has also played the personal in meetings with other world leaders, often straying from the strict professional framework.
When Uruguayan President Luis Lacalle Pou, 49, recently made his first visit to the White House, the publicly unannounced meeting turned into an hour-and-a-half-long meeting, complete with a movie recommendation from Mr. Biden — “The Two Popes,” a nod to the two leaders’ shared Catholicism — and an impromptu wrestling match with a rugby ball in the Oval Office, according to a person in the room.
After huddled in San Diego in March with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, 43, Mr Biden mocked the prime minister’s American upbringing, former green card status and home of Santa Monica, relationships that have earned Sunak criticism back home in the UK.
“First of all, I want to welcome him to California. He’s a man from Stanford, and he still has a home here in California. That’s why I’m very nice to him, maybe he will invite me to his home here in California,” Biden joked.
Instead of Santa Barbara, Sunak invited the president to 10 Downing Street in London on Monday for their sixth meeting since Sunak took office last October. Mr Biden said the relationship was “rock solid”, joking that the two “only meet once a month”.
“We are very privileged and lucky to have you here,” added Sunak.
Mr. Biden’s diplomatic style with some world leaders can show through in their body language after several encounters, including with French President Emmanuel Macron, 45. The two were photographed arm in arm from Spain to Japan to Germany, where cameras once captured Macron. rushing down a catwalk shouting “Joe! Mr. President!” to stop and chat.
Administration officials say that closeness can help ease tensions when they arise, as they did in 2021, when France felt stung by Australia’s decision to end a $66 billion submarine deal and instead struck a deal for the US and UK ships Meeting in Rome a month later, Mr Biden admitted the rollout of the deal was ‘clumsy’ and ‘not done with much grace “.
Aides said the mea culpa allowed the couple to move forward, with Mr Biden inviting Macron to the White House for the first state visit of his presidency last December. Asked why he chose Macron, Mr. Biden replied: “Because he is my friend!”
Fix, of the Council on Foreign Relations, said that relationship with Allied leaders has produced measurable results, citing tougher stances some European countries have taken toward China and the sustained rallying effort to support Ukraine.
However, Mr. Biden’s ability to connect with other world leaders has not always overcome broader geopolitical dynamics. The president often credits his nearly 70 hours with Chinese President Xi Jinping for being able to relate to the foreign leader, but relations between the two countries remain cold.
Until any thaw between the two countries, there will be leaders watching Mr. Biden’s every move.
“At a time when China poses this particular challenge, I think we are lucky to have President Biden’s perspective on President Xi,” Prime Minister Sunak told CNN last month. “I found this particularly valuable to me as a newer person in this field.”
Ed O’Keefe contributed to this report.
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