He could never run for the White House because he was not born in the United States but, argues Toby Harnden, Tony Blair could have been the ideal American candidate.
Tony Blair: More self-disciplined that Clinton, more analytical than Bush and more practical and centrist than Obama
It was fitting that Tony Blair should have been in Washington taking part in the Middle East summit when his startlingly candid memoir A Journey was published in the USA.
While he left office as a derided and diminished figure in Britain, on this side of the Pond he was still treated with near reverence by Left and Right.
Over the past decade, the easiest way of bonding with an American of any political stripe has been to make a joke about the French or praise Blair.
When I interviewed Justice Sandra Day O'Connor of the US Supreme Court shortly after the Iraq invasion, she began gushing, unprompted, about Blair. "He's so articulate," she said. "He really made the case [for war] very well."
Republicans admire him for his support for George W. Bush over Iraq and Blair still maintains: "The stupidest misconception was that he was stupid."
Democrats will never forget how he stood with Bill Clinton during the Monica Lewinsky scandal. Indeed, in his book Blair defends him as not lying but "not wanting to embarrass his family" and explains his affairs as arising "in part from his inordinate interest in and curiosity about people".
But the affection Americans have for Blair stretches beyond personalities. I'll never forget witnessing the address he delivered to a joint session of both houses of Congress in July 2003.
He was interruptions by applause 35 times, 17 of which were standing ovations. Donald Rumsfeld, Bush's Pentagon chief, raised his hands in the air as he clapped. Senator Hillary Clinton, Bush's would-be successor, mouthed: "Good job."
Blair pushed every button, calling for Europe to "defeat the anti-Americanism that sometimes passes for its political discourse" and urging Americans: "Don't ever apologise for your values." It was an embrace of American ideals far more heartfelt than anything that President Barack Obama has managed.
That night was one of the highlights of his premiership. The Iraq insurgency had yet to take root and it was not until the next day that the body of David Kelly, the Ministry of Defence scientist, would be discovered.
Blair's book is in many ways a paen to America. In the bespoke introduction to the US edition, he states baldly: "I have come to love America and what is stands for... America is great for a reason. It is looked up to, despite all the criticism, for a reason. There is a nobility in the American character that has been developed over the centuries."
The cynic would say that Blair is laying it on to boost transatlantic sales. But his admiration for America is so wide-eyed and unconditional that it speaks of something much deeper.
Blair's ability to emote is curiously American. I say curiously because he did not visit the US until he was 32 and by his own admission did not travel much beyond Washington, New York and Los Angeles until he had left Downing Street.
In a preview of his interview with Christiane Amanpour of ABC News on Sunday - despite the onset of the mid-term election campaigns, Blair is the by far the biggest "get" for the Sunday talk shows this weekend - he turns to the subject of Princess Diana, describing her as an "extraordinary, engaging, amazing, beautiful iconic figure". It's the sort of thing that would prompt an eye roll in Britain but is lapped up by Americans.
When he describes the virtues of Clinton, Bush and Obama it is hard not to think that Blair is measuring himself against these occupants of an office that he describes as inspiring a "certain awe" among "mere mortals".
More self-disciplined that Clinton, more analytical than Bush and more practical and centrist than Obama, there is a case to be made that Blair is a greater all-round political talent than any of these three most recent occupants of the Oval Office.
There was briefly a jocular "Tony Blair for President" campaign in 2004. He would, of course, be prevented from running for the White House, even if he one day became a citizen, because he was not born in the US.
Yet as Blair prepares to step up his role as globetrotting statesman with, no doubt, plans to spend more time in America, he seems to reflect with a certain rue that the US would have been the perfect stage for him.
Perhaps he allows himself to think that he is the greatest President the United States never had.
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