Bush and Howard: Best Mates

President Celebrates Rapport With Australian Prime Minister at White House Dinner

Australian Prime Minister John Howard raises his glass to a toast from President Bush last night at a White House dinner. (By Lucian Perkins -- The Washington Post)

If the number of official dinners this administration has hosted is any indication, the formal dining experience is one to be endured only for the most essential diplomatic purposes. Last night was a rare exception.

The White House dinner in honor of Australian Prime Minister John Howard had no urgent message -- no pat on the back for a burgeoning democracy or reward for a breakthrough trade agreement.

It had none of the glam Aussies you might have expected. No Elle Macpherson or Nicole Kidman or Greg Norman. (Kenny Chesney for entertainment?) Still, there was a golden glow to the State Dining Room, where two political friends stood and offered a "Good job, mate" for their support of each other during troubled times.

"We're really an optimistic people and we firmly believe that the best days are ahead for our country," President Bush said to his guest of honor, channeling Ronald Reagan. "I know you feel the same way about Australia. It's also comforting to know that on the other side of the world it's already morning in Australia."

Howard returned the compliment to the man he first met as president on Sept. 10, 2001, and has offered unwavering support since.

"Those foolish enough to suggest that America should have a lesser role in the affairs of the world should pause and think whether they really mean what they say because a world without a dedicated, involved America would be a less safe world, a more precarious world," Howard said.

Such steadfast friends, the Australians, so many of the guests noted, and that was motive enough for the dinner. "We've been working together on matters of influence in the world for many decades," said Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, walking into the dinner through the east entrance with his wife, Joyce. "It is a very strong and special relationship."

"You have to remember Australia is the only ally we have that's fought on the same side as the United States in every war in the last century and this century," said Mel Sembler, the former Republican National Committee finance chairman who was named ambassador to Australia by Bush's father.

The two men share similar temperaments and common experiences, noted Tom Schieffer, the former U.S. ambassador to Australia. "They don't take themselves too seriously, and I think the fact they don't just gave them a kind of instant rapport that served both countries."

And Howard saw firsthand the horrors of Sept. 11. He was in Washington that day and immediately offered Australia's support, before being spirited back home aboard Air Force 2. "From that time forward the president really valued the prime minister's counsel," Schieffer said. "He was a person the president depended on."

So now, a time to celebrate that close friendship in grand style.

The state dining room was lit by 19th-century candelabra, tables set in pistachio-colored silk cloths, with hot pink floral centerpieces and the Clintons' ivory and gold china. Laura Bush, wearing a lemon-yellow beaded Peggy Jennings gown, with yellow citrine beads around her throat, sat between Howard and Sen. Lamar Alexander. The president sat between Janette Howard, wearing a silk aqua dress, and Julie Nixon Eisenhower, in a red Mary McFadden dress.