It was one of those signature visual moments in a presidency – George W Bush landing on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and stepping out of the plane in his flying suit. 'Top Gun' was the inevitable headline in more than one tabloid daily the following morning.
Every president notches up a few such moments. They will be played and replayed to the point that they will become fixed in the nation's collective mind's eye.
Bush's dad had his share, though not all were the most politically or personally desirable.
There was the collapse at the Chinese banquet table and the "read my lips" pledge not to raise taxes.
The elder Bush's successor had his moments too.
Bill Clinton and his saxophone became a trademark and the handshake with Gerry Adams on the Falls Road was a standout. Sometimes the moment can come during the quest for the presidency and it can be a political killer.
One such was Democrat Michael Dukakis in a tank during the 1988 race, ultimately won by Bush senior.
So, the Top Gun moment.
Bush the younger got away with it because he is a trained fighter pilot. And he doubtless savoured the moment. But it was just that – a moment.
Awaiting him back on terra firma was a wobbly economy and a continued war against terrorism not ended with clear-cut military victories in Iraq and Afghanistan.
And, not to forget, there was the bump in the road – as Richard Haass put it – in the Northern Ireland peace process, an enterprise in which the US president has inherited a stake from saxman Bill.
Bush has proved himself a more than able commander-in-chief, though it helps having the most powerful military force in human history at one's beck and call.
Being president is a bit more complicated, especially when it involves facing into a reluctant economy and foreign policy issues that do not respond to cruise missiles.
But expectations match the office and Irish Americans who take an interest in Ireland's troubled peace will, in the coming months, want to see the same degree of single-mindedness from Bush that he has clearly displayed in the battles against the Taliban, al-Qaida and Saddam Hussein.
The president's visit to the north last month was hailed by Irish-American supporters of his party but the visit was something of a hybrid – it was in Ireland, but not quite to Ireland.
The main reason for travelling was Iraq... that was made clear by Dr Haass again last week.
Irish Americans are unlikely to be content with the overnight at Hillsborough.
It's a fair bet that when it comes to next year's election campaign, the memory of the Belfast trip will do little to line up Irish-American votes in states that the planners in Bush's Republican Party see as winnable.
What memory survives will be of a negative aftermath to the visit.
Bush will probably have to travel to Ireland again, and to both sides of the border, to fully convince an expectant Irish America that his commitment to a lasting settlement goes beyond occasional words and a green tie on St Patrick's Day.
Presidential intervention in the search for a settlement was never going to be a magic bullet.
Bill Clinton had his uneasy moments on Northern Ireland soil and even three visits failed to secure a final breakthrough.
Indeed, Clinton's ultimate visit as president – just before Christmas 2000 – and the recent Bush landing, look remarkably similar in terms of the background situation and the less than glorious outcome.
The Clinton visit was framed by an impasse centred on IRA reluctance to begin decommissioning and the republican movement's unhapp-iness and frustration over the less than full implementation of the Patten proposals on police reform.
A very similar looking logjam greeted Bush upon arrival and remained after his departure.
What was starkly different between the Clinton final and the Bush first visit, however, was the political centre of gravity.
The reasons that pulled Bill Clinton to Ireland for a third time were a mixture of personal and pragmatic. Irish-American sensibilities played a role and there was clearly the tug of history.
There was no election angle.
The political centre of gravity for the Bush visit was Iraq and the 2004 campaign has begun with that war's outcome as the starting point.
Irish Americans, especially those who are supporters of the Democratic Party, are inevitably prone to highlighting Clinton's successes while suggesting that Clinton simply ran out of time before a final deal in the north could be battened down.
Comparing Clinton's record with that of Bush will gather momentum as the months tick away to the 2004 election – now closer in time than the plebiscite that saw Bush snatch victory from the hands of Al Gore.
Bush – though he has yet to rise to the level of prominence on Ireland that Clinton did – still has time.
Clinton had eight years in the White House, Bush is only in his third.
Bush has placed his feet on Irish soil earlier in his presidency than Clinton did – just over 26 months as opposed to just shy of 36 months.
Clinton, however, had to wind up a groundbreaking policy from scratch.
Bush inherited the policy although, given present difficulties, Irish America will want him to consider a fresh approach.
That will need some intervention and another transatlantic foray as the election draws closer.
Perhaps the Abraham Lincoln could sail into Belfast Lough and provide the Top Gun president with another happy landing.
Not likely. Iraq, rather astonishingly, turned out to be a safer bet for Bush than Northern Ireland – a supercarrier to the peace process's rather battered old tub.
