Presidents Glancing at China

At The New York Times, Mark Landler and Helene Cooper write: "Mr. Obama has told people that it would be so much easier to be the president of China. As one official put it, `No one is scrutinizing Hu Jintao’s words in Tahrir Square.'"

President Obama is not the first chief executive to reflect that Chinese leaders have it easier. In Before the Fall, Nixon aide William Safire related what Secretary of State William Rogers said of a meeting between Nixon and the Chinese premier:

A girl came up to Chou En-lai and handed him the galleys of the next day's newspapers, and there he was— rearranging the front page. The President nodded, muttering, "I'd like to rearrange a front page now and then."