I Wanna Stand With You On A Mountain, I Wanna Bathe With You In The Sea

Mr. Hernandez, who is so close to the Bushes that he moved in with them in Dallas after his apartment was burglarized, has been the subject of news articles suggesting that the president dubbed him Altoids Boy, a reference to his duties dispensing Altoids mints to Mr. Bush during their Texas travels. "I hate that," Mr. Hernandez said. "He doesn't call me Altoids Boy. He calls me Izzy."

Two years ago, the online edition [oops, it was in print -- EF] of The New Republic, a liberal magazine, singled out Mr. Hernandez as a member of the Bush "hackocracy." But sitting in his corner office the other day, recounting his travel this past year to Peru, China, Vietnam and Panama, Mr. Hernandez - who in his Department of Commerce job supervises 1,600 employees in 80 countries - had the final word.

Mr. Bush, he said, is simply giving him an opportunity to show what he can do. "Everyone has their own journey, their own story," he said. "I feel like I climbed this mountain with the president, and I'm getting a chance."