Bill Clinton made a surprise visit to North Korea yesterday and secured the pardons of two jailed American journalists. Clinton’s mission had been arranged by the Obama Administration, but it called to mind an episode in 1994, when Jimmy Carter visited Pyongyang without the blessing of the Clinton Administration. Michael Kelly reported on the fallout in the October 3, 1994, issue of the magazine:

Washington likes its comedy obvious, as events continually prove, and jokes about Clinton and Carter have been circulating since June—right after Carter went on his own initiative to defuse the threat of Kim Il Sung’s nuclear ambitions, and an infuriated White House then found itself watching him blithely reverse United States policy and sing Kim’s praises on CNN. (Q: What’s worse than a Democratic President making foreign policy? A: Two Democratic Presidents making foreign policy.)

