He loves the Queen and the British people. Truth be told, President Obama was always going to be a hit on his first overseas trip.
But Gordon Brown probably could not believe his luck. The prime minister just could not stop grinning as he stood next to the new president at a news conference in the Foreign Office ahead of the G20 summit.
He must have always been hoping for a bit of the Obama magic to rub off on him and revive his battered ratings but he can’t have expected the ringing endorsement he got.
Tony Blair and George W Bush. Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher. Britain has always liked to make much of the special relationship between it and America and any doubts it was in danger under Obama could be put to rest this week.
Obama looked on intently as Brown made his opening statement, referring to him by title.
