If you think the job of White House social secretary would be all glitz and glamour, then you weren’t working beside Lea Berman when Chinese President Hu Jintao visited in spring 2006.
In their new book, “Pennsylvania Avenue: Profiles in Backroom Power,” which hits bookstores next week, Wall Street Journal reporters Gerald Seib and John Harwood reveal the laundry list of issues the former social secretary had to deal with during China’s “official” visit.
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On top of already fragile relations between the two countries, Hu’s handlers rejected the seating chart,
| Hu Jintao – Getty Images |
demanding that the two leaders sit together, rather than next to each others’ wives. Then, another Chinese official attempted unilaterally to close the drapes in the dining room to block views of the protesters across the street. Berman ensured they remained open.
Matters got worse when the announcer for the event referred to Hu as the leader of the “Republic of China,” dropping the critical word “People’s.” Republic of China refers to Taiwan, which China regards as renegade province.
Finally, the Chinese interpreter replaced the American interpreters’ place card with one of her own. “Berman rushed over and told the Chinese interpreter to stop,” Harwood and Seib write. “She and the interpreter even engaged in a brief tug of war over the interpreter’s chair. After winning it, Berman instructed the American interpreter to occupy the chair and stay put there for the hour remaining before the lunch began.”
Berman is one of 27 Washingtonians profiled in the book, which illustrates the various brands of power in contemporary Washington.
Among the other lucky subjects who now can add “backroom power broker in major political book” to their resumes:
- Ken Duberstein, whom the authors credit with making the connection between columnist Robert Novak and Richard Armitage, Novak’s source in the Valerie Plame leak story;
- Carlyle Group co-founder David Rubenstein, who’s proving that one “can be in the financial world and live in Washington, D.C.”;
- Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., who pledged $100,000 to House Democrats’ campaign efforts before she was even elected;
- Brendan Daly, Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s communications guru, who talked Jay Leno out of asking the speaker about Iran during a 2007 appearance.
