“He shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to make treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint ambassadors” -United States Constitution, Article II, Section 2 The President of the United States, in Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution, is given the power to negotiate with foreign governments and appoint ambassadors. These responsibilities make the President the Chief Diplomat of the United States. During his administration, President Clinton acted in this role while negotiating treaties, rallying world leaders to the cause of democracy, or otherwise representing the interests of the United States abroad. The Good Friday Agreement While the 1990’s was a largely peaceful decade for the Western world, “The Troubles” between Catholics and Protestants in Ireland and Northern Ireland raged on. For President Clinton, this struggle was not an issue of internal politics for the U.K. to handle on their own; rather, the lobbying of the large Irish-American population of the United States caused peacemaking in Ireland to become a leading diplomatic goal of the President’s two terms. In 1994, President Clinton appointed a special envoy, former Senator George Mitchell, who worked to facilitate negotiations between the two sides. This would prove to be complicated work as the sides had been involved in nearly open warfare between rival paramilitary groups until a ceasefire had brought a tenuous end to the fighting just months earlier. Image President Clinton, National Security Advisor Anthony Lake, Special Envoy George Mitchell, and Ambassador William Crowe meet with Gerry Adams, leader of the Sinn Féin political party. In 1995, President Clinton, in an act of public diplomacy, traveled to Northern Ireland to engage directly with the Irish people on the issue of peace. On the lightning two-day trip, the President and First Lady of the United States campaigned for peace through various events in which they spoke to its importance in the region. Image A poster announcing President Clinton’s participation in the Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony, held at Belfast City Hall, November 30, 1995. Of these events, the speech delivered at the Belfast City Hall’s Tree Lighting Ceremony was perhaps the most powerful. After being introduced by the Lord Mayor of Belfast and lighting the 49-foot-tall white pine that had been donated by Nashville, Tennessee, President Clinton approached the podium as the crowd of 80,000 cheered. During his short speech, President Clinton spoke to the benefits that the ceasefire had brought to the people of Belfast and the ways in which their Christmas holiday would prove to be “especially joyous” because of it. President Clinton challenged the people of Ireland from “both sides” to “forgive” the violence of the other and pledged the support of the United States to “those who take risks for peace”. Click the player above to watch a recording of the 1995 tree lighting ceremony at Belfast City Hall and a speech by President Clinton. Within a few short years, on a rising swell of enthusiasm for peace, the Good Friday agreement was signed by the U.K. and the Republic of Ireland in 1998 before passing a popular vote in both nations. The journey to peace in Ireland had not been completed; however, the road forward had become clear. Although President Clinton had only played a small part, his contribution to peace in Ireland was made possible by his role of Chief Diplomat of the United States. The Oslo Accords Image Prime Minister Rabin and Yasser Arafat shake hands after signing the Oslo Accords at the White House, 1993. Perhaps one of President Clinton’s greatest diplomatic successes was the bringing together of Israel and Palestine to sign the Oslo Accords in 1993. Prior to the signing, Israel and Palestine, although neighbors, had been locked in an on-again off-again conflict since the creation of an Israeli state in 1947. The Oslo Accords, which had been negotiated during secret meetings in Norway, served to vastly improve the chance for peace in the region by establishing a framework for future peace negotiations between the two countries. The accords stipulated that a Palestinian Authority be officially recognized by Israel as the governing body of the Palestinian people and be afforded self-government in parts of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The Palestinians, in turn recognized Israel’s right to exist and renounced its intent to attack and destroy that state. Click the player above to watch President Clinton and Vice President Gore receive world leaders in the Oval Office Before the ceremony, President Clinton and Vice President Gore greeted foreign leaders from the Middle East and beyond before presiding over the event itself. During the event Prime Minister Rabin and Yasser Arafat shook hands in front of the world’s press for the first time. Click the player above to watch the signing ceremony for the Oslo Accords. The signing begins at 31:30. President Clinton’s hosting of the signing ceremony for the Oslo Accords served as a symbolic endorsement of the deal by the United States and President Clinton’s presence at the signing enforced for the signatories that the United States desired peace in the region, illustrating President Clinton’s role as America’s Chief Diplomat. Rallying World Leaders to Uphold Democracy in Haiti After the Haitian military overthrew their nation’s democratically elected President, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, in a 1990 coup d’état, they began to wage a campaign of political violence against dissenters and Aristide’s supporters. President Clinton, receiving reports of violence and concerned about a growing number of Haitian refugees seeking asylum in the United States, resolved to rally international support to oust the brutal regime. In 1994, months before Operation Uphold Democracy would finally force the Haitian military from power, President Clinton was fulfilling his role as America’s Chief Diplomat to bring world leaders over to the cause of Haitian democracy. Image Click the document above to read the talking points President Clinton had for conversions with world leaders regarding action in Haiti. Through the “talking points” for phone conversations above, one can see that President Clinton’s work as Chief Diplomat involved more than simply calling world leaders and asking for help. Rather, President Clinton’s talking points show that he reinforced areas of common ground between the United States and its allies, sought to reconcile contentious points like trade spats, and explained to world leaders why it was important for them to commit to the cause of democracy, even when it was on a tiny island in the Caribbean. In the end, President Clinton’s efforts were hugely successful as he assembled a coalition of 22 nations to oppose the Haitian dictators. In the face of overwhelming international cooperation, the dictators abandoned their posts and President Aristide was returned to his rightful place. [Return To The Powers of The Presidency Home Page]