WASHINGTON — Returning from Latin America aboard Secretary of State Madeleine Albright's plane at night recently, a department press aide wrestled with questions from reporters about U.S. legislation on Caribbean tariffs.
The aide admitted that he knew little about it.
"Well, get Davidow," an exasperated reporter said.
"He's probably sleeping," the aide said.
"Then wake him."
In moments, the aide returned with Jeffrey Davidow, assistant secretary of State for Latin American affairs.
The 6-foot-6 diplomat towered over the seated correspondents and listened to their questions patiently. He replied with clarity, incisiveness and good humor.
The incident reinforced his image both within and without the State Department. Davidow, 54, who was nominated by President Clinton this week to fill the long-empty post of ambassador to Mexico, is known as an affable diplomat who keeps a grand store of information in his head and speaks his mind without cant or bureaucratic haze.
Clinton's selection of Davidow is popular in the State Department and should satisfy congressional critics like Sen. Paul Coverdell (R-Ga.), who have called on the administration to nominate a distinguished career officer for the post.
The big question is whether it will satisfy Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
The powerful Helms single-handedly derailed Clinton's nomination of former Massachusetts Gov. William F. Weld for the job last year, refusing to let the committee even vote on the nominee. Helms castigated Weld, a fellow Republican, for advocating medicinal use of marijuana and the distribution of clean needles to drug addicts as an AIDS-prevention measure.
No such controversy hangs over Davidow. And, unlike Weld, Davidow has taken the precaution of saying nothing in public until he appears before the Helms committee.
Although Davidow is making no public statements now, he is not a diplomat shy about taking a stand.
When he arrived in Venezuela as ambassador in 1993, its democracy had been shaken by a series of coup attempts. There was a fear that Venezuelan democracy would prove too fragile to withstand any more blows.
Davidow soon made it clear that he intended to bolster democracy. When the fearful government suspended political rights and harassed several critics, he invited them to an embassy party and, in front of some prominent members of the government and Caracas society, hugged one critic, political analyst Anibal Romero, in a Latin-style abrazo.
