Bush's envoy is an unlikely bridge-builder to EU - by Dan Bilefski and Brian Knowlton
BRUSSELS -- C. Boyden Gray, America's new ambassador to the European Union, graciously insisted that Europe's recent bout of anti-Americanism had dissipated. But just in case, he joked, he lives in a home once owned by a Russian oligarch with a door built to withstand an explosive attack.Though fond of sober suits and self-effacement, the 6-foot-6-inch Gray is an unlikely bridge-builder. A Bush family loyalist, he has helped wage some of Washington's biggest ideological battles of the past two decades. And he is new to a life of diplomacy.
Gray raised millions of dollars and helped engineer ads attacking Democrats' attempts to block socially conservative judges, including Roman Catholics. One ad superimposed a sign on a courthouse that read, ``Catholics Need Not Apply." That lobbying so angered Democratic senators that they held up his nomination as ambassador for months in the Foreign Relations Committee. Finally, the younger Bush used his power to install Gray through a ``recess appointment" while the Senate was out of town.
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