In a rare moment of humility, President Bush during this morning's press conference acknowledged that he knew little about Russian President Vladimir Putin's hand-picked successor, Dmitry Medvedev. Responding to NBC reporter David Greg's dubious assertion that neither Hillary Clinton nor Barack Obama seemed to know much about Medvedev, Bush owned up to his own ignorance, "I don't know much about Medvedev, either." President Bush's sheepishness is justified. After all, in the run-up to his 2000 election, then candidate George W. Bush showed a comic - and tragic - ignorance of major world leaders.

Governor Bush's staggering lack of awareness regarding his future friends and foes on the world stage became apparent one year before his election. In a now-legendary November 1999 interview, Bush could name only one of four foreign leaders in an unexpected pop quiz from Boston TV reporter Andy Hiller. (No doubt, the former owner of baseball's Texas Rangers thought a .250 average wasn't too bad.) In a dark irony, one of those whose identity escaped Bush's meager grasp of foreign policy was the new president of Pakistan, Pervez Musharraf.
While Bush was able to name Taiwan's President Lee, he drew a blank on the leaders of India and Chechnya. The neophyte Bush's squirming only increased when it came to Pakistan. As the BBC recalled:

But then came the crunch question: "Can you name the general who is in charge of Pakistan?"
Mr Bush needed a breather. "Wait, wait, is this 50 questions?"
Hiller: "No, it's four questions of four leaders in four hot spots," the reporter tried to put his victim at ease.
"The new Pakistani general, he's just been elected - not elected, this guy took over office. It appears this guy is going to bring stability to the country and I think that's good news for the sub-continent," the Republican candidate offered.
Good news, but not an answer, and the interviewer insisted: "Can you name him?"
"General. I can't name the general. General" was all Mr Bush had to offer.

Bush, who has repeatedly joked about his preference for dictatorship over democracy, has apparently been sticking to his line on Musharraf ("this guy is going to bring stability to the country") ever since. He just didn't know his name yet.
Sadly, George W. Bush's struggles with the international landscape didn't end there. Just four months later in March 2000, Bush was delighted to learn from a reporter that he had received the ringing endorsement of Canadian Prime Minister Jean Poutine:

"Prime Minister Jean Poutine said he wouldn't endorse any candidate in this election, now he says he believes George W. Bush is the man to lead the free world into the 21st century."

Bush warmly accepted his endorsement:

"He understands I want to make sure our relationship with our most important neighbour to the north of us is strong and we'll work closely together."

There were a few problems, of course. The prime minister of Canada was Jean Chretien, not Jean Poutine. "Poutine" is a popular regional food of Quebec, a dish of french fries, gravy and cheese curds. Bush, simply too ignorant regarding our neighbor to the north, fell hook, line and sinker for a prank by This Hour Has 22 Minutes star Rick Mercer.
Presidential candidates can't be expected to know every detail about every leader of every country. (President Clinton acknowledged as much when he threw Bush a lifeline after Dubya's November 1999 fiasco, "If Mr Bush is president he will soon enough learn their names.") In Tuesday's MSNBC Democratic debate, both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama showed that even without looking in his eyes and knowing his soul, they knew a great deal about Dmitry Medvedev, if not how to pronounce his name.
But unlike George W. Bush 8 years earlier, at least they knew what it was.