Mr Hague and chums go to Washington

It's all a bit embarrassing really. You hope for a chat with the president but end up with 45 minutes of facetime with Karl Rove. Admittedly the latter is sometimes known as the President's Brain but it's not quite the same thing as meeting the man at the top. The Guardian has the story:

"The three Tories walked in and out of the White House complex through a grey edifice known as the Eisenhower executive office building - essentially the tradesman's entrance. Their moment of triumph was marked on the pavement outside where two British reporters and a photographer were waiting in the sunshine.
A prominent member of the White House press corps had walked by a few minutes earlier, asked what was going on, and shrugged. The Tories had picked the wrong day he said. The Washington press was still absorbed by the weekend hunting accident in Texas in which a Republican lawyer was wounded by the vice-president, Dick Cheney - now referred to as "The Shooter" in White House briefings on the incident.
Not having shot anyone, the Conservative delegation may have had trouble catching the public eye, but that was beside the point, they insisted. Mr Rove, who has a famous nose for political futures, had greeted them warmly and brainstormed for nearly 15 minutes beyond their allotted half hour."

Remember, even Henry McLeish got to speak to the president face to face. I rather doubt if Mr Cameron will be visiting the US in the near future.