Chasing Schroeder

Last Friday I saw Gerhard Schroeder deliver a speech to mark the opening of a new pulp mill in eastern Germany. As a practioner of a rather more sedate form of journalism, it was fascinating to be face to face with a full-on media frenzy, as myself and the other representatives of the trade press were joined by the entire German news media circus for the afternoon. Seeing first-hand the swarm of attention that followed the German Chancellor from the moment he arrived to the moment a fleet of bulletproof limos raced off to take him to his next engagement was a real eye-opener. To be the man at the eye of such a storm must be strange indeed. it's an interesting paradox that the power granted to Schroeder and other world leaders through their offices comes at the cost of a loss of personal autonomy: A high-level politician's day has to be meticulously planned, mostly by others; racing from one meeting to the next, it must often feel like events are controlling you, rather than the other way round. Of course, for most people, the loss of a degree of autonomy would be a small price to pay in exchange for access to the power vested in the office of Chancellor, Prime Minister, President, or whatever. But, without the personal authority to back it up, it's a kind of hollow power.
Perhaps this explains George W. Bush's almost mystical reverence for his office, as documented in Bob Woodward's Plan of Attack. What authority would Bush have if he were not President?