Aug. 10 (Bloomberg) -- The Big Dog is back.

Bill Clinton emerged from more than a year of relative obscurity last week with a mission to Pyongyang, where he rescued two American journalists imprisoned by the North Koreans. It was a touching and triumphant moment, the secretary of state’s spouse as a high-level diplomatic troubleshooter.

There were banner headlines about the Clinton comeback, and the Comeback Kid, reminiscent of his first presidential campaign.

It was a testament to his special status. “A former president gives you a unique combination of seniority and rank, but also distance,” says Richard Haass, a former State Department official and now head of the Council on Foreign Relations in New York.

As Haass and others note, Clinton didn’t negotiate anything in North Korea. Everything was scripted backchannel by President Barack Obama’s administration; the ex-president might have freelanced a little, but he had no leeway for discussions on other issues. Still, he undoubtedly gleaned important impressions of the ailing “Dear Leader,” Kim Jong Il, and others in the reclusive, nuclear-armed, trouble-making regime.

New Missions?

Thus, more interesting and important than the headlines and attendant fun and gossip of any Clinton saga are the possibilities -- and perils -- of using him on subsequent missions.

The downsides are numerous. Already, the Obama administration has unusually powerful envoys: Richard Holbrooke (Pakistan-Afghanistan); George Mitchell (Israel-Palestine), and Dennis Ross (Iran). The president, at the start of his administration, is more engaged in foreign policy than either of his last two predecessors at a comparable time.

However daunting the challenges, there is only so much oxygen in high-level statecraft.

On the recent jaunt to Pyongyang, Clinton took two professionals, David Straub, former director of the Korea desk at the State Department, and his former chief of staff, John Podesta, who is also close to the Obama White House.

Yet the 42nd president also is surrounded by hangers-on, Bill’s posse, who often cause trouble and conflicts.

Loose Cannon

And as revealed in the riveting new book on last year’s campaign by journalists Dan Balz and Haynes Johnson, “The Battle for America 2008,” Clinton can be a dangerously loose cannon. His frayed relations with Edward Kennedy last year were one reason for the influential Democratic senator’s important endorsement of Obama in the primary fight against Clinton’s wife.

And the relations between Bill Clinton and Obama are decidedly cool. During the general-election campaign last year, a close associate of both men advised Obama to periodically consult with the former president, even suggesting he put the phone in the sock drawer while Clinton pontificated. Obama never followed this advice. Prior to the North Korean mission, the two men hadn’t spoken in more than four months.

The pluses are simple: Clinton is a respected figure in much of the world. The North Koreans would accept only him as an intermediary, such is his standing and prestige -- and their desire for propaganda opportunities.

Republican Critics

He continues to drive critics crazy, which may actually enhance his effectiveness. After returning the two American journalists from North Korea, John Bolton, the United Nations ambassador under President George W. Bush, and Karl Rove, the Republican political strategist, both assailed the mission as a propaganda coup for Kim Jong Il and a bad precedent. The alternative, as most Americans no doubt appreciate, was years of hard labor for the two young women.

His talents and understanding of the world are unsurpassed. When Clinton is on his game, there are few in his league. In the early years of his presidency, the conduct of foreign policy was chaotic; by the end, he’d mastered the politics, policies and personalities of geopolitics.

Moreover, his unique role and even his cool relations with Obama are potential assets. “It’s less complicated than using someone who worked for you,” notes Haass. “Then a foreign government sees it as part of administration policy; using a former president allows the president to distance himself if necessary.”

An added plus: Hillary Clinton as secretary of state presumably would be a check on some of his more narcissistic impulses.

Funerals and Disasters

Some tasks are natural: a rescue mission like last week’s, attending a high-level funeral or leading a humanitarian response to a disaster as he and former President George H.W. Bush have done.

Could he play a bigger, broader role as a special envoy or troubleshooter on nuclear proliferation, China or any number of other challenges? Some Clintonistas already have visions of the new senior statesman of the world.

It’s not likely; more probable the North Korean experience will prove sui generis.

First, even with this success, the melodrama that invariably accompanies William Jefferson Clinton was in full force: Did his mission overshadow the secretary of state, his wife, who is on a diplomatic trip to Africa? Then there was the tension between long-estranged teammates as Bill Clinton and Al Gore were reunited. Although the captive journalists worked for Current TV, a network co-founded by Gore, the North Koreans rejected the Nobel Prize-winning former vice president as an emissary. Gore upstaged by Clinton again.

Public Praise

Then there was the Obama administration. Publicly, the president praised Clinton. Privately, the White House downplayed the importance of Clinton’s role, with a top National Security Council official trashing the former president on background.

Obama’s White House is very much a command-and-control operation. The National Security Council has more than three times as many employees as a couple of decades ago when Brent Scowcroft was running it for President George H.W. Bush.

This comparatively disciplined White House tries to keep a tight rein on everyone, including top Cabinet members like Secretary Clinton.

The Big Dog doesn’t take well to a leash.

(Albert R. Hunt is the executive editor for Washington at Bloomberg News. The opinions expressed are his own.)

To contact the writer of this column: Albert R. Hunt in Washington at ahunt1@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: August 9, 2009 06:00 EDT