HERE'S ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THEIR RESPECTIVE LEGACIES...:

Two Leaders, Two Uses of Power (Jim Hoagland, May 13, 2007, Washington Post)

Tony Blair leaves office still a romantic, a leader who tried to do too much and failed because his ambitions were so high. Jacques Chirac's legacy is that of a political cynic who failed by trying to do too little.

The British prime minister has announced that on June 27, he will quit the unassuming townhouse at 10 Downing Street that he has occupied for 10 years. The French president departs from the majestic Elysee Palace this week after 12 years. Both leave in the same condition: politically scarred and deeply unpopular at home after sparkling beginnings.

These two leaders could have changed Europe and perhaps the world had they been able to work together. Instead, they became bitter rivals who repeatedly thwarted each other, sometimes for the fun of it.

The character gap helps explain why history will reassess Blair's record more generously than it will Chirac's.

...both Mr. Blair and Mr. Chirac were succeeded by Blairites. Chirac staked his presidency on opposition to the Anglosphere and left behind a France dying to enter it.

Posted by Orrin Judd at May 13, 2007 9:11 AM