I had visited General Shelton not long before at Fort Bragg, after a plane crash at nearby Pope Air Force Base had killed several servicemen. November offered two examples of sound policy and questionable politics. Our last stop was Senegal, where we visited the Door of No Return on Gorée Island, the point from which so many Africans were taken to slavery in North America. Once when we were walking through my hotel together, a Russian journalist asked him if he was happy with our meeting.
Little over a decade earlier, our neighbors had been plagued with civil wars, coups, dictators, closed economies, and desperate poverty. I had thought he was often too resistant to getting deeply involved in the peace process, but that night he was strong, clear, and effective. Two days later I presented my budget plan to Congress. Besides the officials, I shook hands with a large crowd of friendly people who gathered spontaneously to greet us after an informal lunch at a local restaurant.
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