President Obama's inspired choice of Caroline Kennedy to be the next U.S. ambassador to Japan falls within a long tradition of appointing political celebrities to represent the country, a tradition that began with her father the late President John F. Kennedy.
Since then Washington has stoked the collective Japanese ego by naming such figures as former Vice President Walter Mondale, former Speaker of the House of Representatives Tom Foley and former Senate Majority Leader Howard Baker. Never mind that these individuals had somewhat tarnished records -- electoral defeats, regarding Mondale and Foley.
Another former Senate power house turned diplomat, Mike Mansfield, flattered the Japanese even more with his famous words that the U.S.-Japan partnership was "the most important bilateral relationship in the world, bar none." It is a phrase continually repeated even as it has become apparent that other relationships, especially with China, have become equally important.
The last ambassador, Thomas Schieffer, might be described as a kind of semi-celebrity, being the brother of the famous American broadcaster Bob Schieffer. He was also a former business partner of president George W. Bush in Texas, and thus was assumed, true of not, to have a direct line to the president himself.
Edwin O. Reischauer, President Kennedy's choice to serve as ambassador to Japan, was not a political celebrity, but he was an academic superstar, a world-famous Asian scholar and a Japanophile whose appointment greatly appealed to the Japanese public. (Which again believed, with some justification, that the ambassador had a pipeline to the president.)
The Japanese put a lot of store in the notion that the U.S. ambassador has a direct line to the White House. Much of the initial commentary from when Kennedy's appointment was first bruited last spring stressed this point: "We understand that she is extremely close to the president," said Yoshihide Suga, chief spokesman for the government.
The Asahi newspaper argued that "having a U.S. ambassador who hobnobs with the President of the United States is viewed as a gigantic plus." The Japanese, however, are probably exaggerating Kennedy's personal clout with President Obama.
It is true that Caroline Kennedy played a role in Barack Obama's quest for the Democratic Party nomination, when she came out in his support over his main primary rival, former First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton. Obama no doubt appreciates that support, but to say they "hobnob" together is a stretch.
But she is a genuine Kennedy, and that counts for a lot. The Japanese have a longstanding love affair with the Kennedy family that stretches back to 1962 when the president's brother, Bobby Kennedy, made a famous trip to Japan and was treated like a visiting rock star.
