WASHINGTON — The diplomatic mission to rescue two American TV journalists jailed in North Korea lasted less than two days.
But in the brief time that it took former President Clinton to fly to the North Korean capital and back this week, it redefined -- and in some cases, reinvigorated -- several relationships at the heart of American politics.
It once again led to him overshadowing his wife, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, even as she is on her own diplomatic trip to Africa. It served as a pleasant, and public, reunion with his old second-in-command, former Vice President Al Gore. And it marked a coming in from the cold of sorts for a man who has had a fractious relationship with the current president.
"I want to thank President Bill Clinton -- I had a chance to talk to him -- for the extraordinary humanitarian effort that resulted in the release of the two journalists," President Obama said in a short statement on the South Lawn of the White House.
Obama's praise surely comes as music to the ears of a man who associates say has recently been eager to take on a new public role.
A former Clinton administration official and political associate said the former president was "playing the kind of role he has been eager to play -- an elder statesman, respected around the world, a guy who can make things happen."
He said the high point for Clinton was the moment Wednesday morning at Bob Hope Airport in Burbank when one of the freed journalists, Laura Ling, told reporters of first seeing Clinton, the agent of her deliverance, at a North Korean prison.
"When we walked through the doors," she said, her voice breaking, "we saw standing before us President Bill Clinton. We were shocked, but we knew instantly in our hearts that the nightmare of our lives was coming to an end."
For Clinton, "it doesn't get any better than that," the former official said. "Talk about affirmation. This is the love he needs."
It also appeared to be an early diplomatic success for the Obama administration, and it put a new gloss on a post-presidential career that has brought Clinton generous praise but also some criticism.
"This is really going to help consolidate his role as an elder statesman," said Ross Baker, a political analyst at Rutgers University. "It almost gave him a kind of heroic tint."
