Farish's successor to UK interviewed by Times

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August 26, 2005

The Times

Art-loving car dealer to tune up Bush's image in sceptical Britain
By Gerard Baker

Robert Tuttle aims to be a very visible US Ambassador in London. He speaks about his new role



WHEN President Bush nominated Robert Tuttle this year to be US Ambassador to London, it looked to critics like another example of his cavalier disregard for the sensibilities of foreign policy.
To his detractors it was almost too good to be true that Mr Bush, often caricatured as a swaggering, unsophisticated peddler of half-truths, should have chosen one of America’s most successful car dealers to sell his Administration’s image and policies to a sceptical British public.

Following the somnolent ambassadorship of the horse-loving William Farish, Britain was to be treated to a man who had made a career selling Fords and Chryslers to Americans and contributing hundreds of thousands of dollars to Republican political campaigns.

But Britain may be surprised by its new American envoy.

For one thing, Mr Tuttle is not your typical car dealer. Not every Ford truck salesman has a collection of David Hockney paintings and Alexander Calder sculptures in the garage. And, if his early weeks in the job are any guide, the new US representative in London is already demonstrating a deft understanding of the challenges he faces in repairing America’s battered public image.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,11069-1750644,00.html