In 1992, President Bush made an unusual plea to Prime Minister Miyazawa to expand the purchase of U.S.-made auto parts, saying, "Please help me," according to a diplomatic document released in <>. Experts have analyzed that since the presidential election was coming up that year, "President Bush needed to win concrete numbers from Japan in order to be re-elected."
At the summit meeting between Prime Minister Miyazawa and President Bush in Tokyo in January 1992, the focus was on resolving the automobile friction between Japan and the United States, and Japan agreed to increase the total amount of U.S.-made auto parts purchased from $1 billion to $90 billion.
The diplomatic documents released this time show that the U.S. side was conscious of the presidential election.
In December 1991, a senior U.S. government official pressed a senior U.S. government official to make concessions, saying, "Next year is the year of the presidential election, and if there are no concrete results, the visit itself will be strongly criticized as a failure."
At the January summit, President Bush told Prime Minister Miyazawa that he had no doubts that he would be re-elected, but added, "I am facing a lot of pressure at home, and what I am looking for is the best number. I want you to help me," he said, making an unusual plea to expand the purchase of American-made auto parts.
In response, Prime Minister Miyazawa said, "Your success is necessary for me to succeed," and accepted the U.S. demand.
However, in the presidential election held in November of that year, Mr. Bush lost to Mr. Clinton.
Kazuhiro Takahashi, a professor at Hosei University who is well versed in the history of Japan's diplomacy, said, "As the movement toward the presidential election began, President Bush needed to win concrete numbers from Japan in order to be re-elected.