He Really Doesn’t Look So Good

Weeks of denials from the White House have not done much to sway other Western leaders from a nagging impression that PRESIDENT BUSH is ill. Several have noted in telephone conversations with Bush that he vacillates and loses his train of thought in mid-sentence. Diplomats have observed that the President has become more stooped, his face often drawn and his complexion grayish. At last month’s G-7 summit in Munich and the CSCE summit in Helsinki, the same symptoms were starkly evident. Says a French diplomat: “The questions they keep asking privately are, Do you think George is ill? How serious is it? And what is it?” “It was much more than fatigue or preoccupation with other things,” says a British observer. “He looked and acted ill.” Fortunately for Bush, his pals’ impressions don’t carry much weight with the U.S. electorate. But he might want to schedule some of those overseas calls when he’s feeling in top form.