Time-crunch headaches for President Obama’s South Africa trip

“In terms of the normal planning that goes into a presidential event, most of that would not apply,” said Dan Rosenthal, who as assistant to President Clinton was responsible for planning public events around the world. “It’s an event that’s being planned by the host government. In terms of the logistical challenges, they’re immense in terms of the compressed timeline, months now into days.”

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“It was a real crush of people and it was a really a nightmare for the Secret Service,” said Rosenthal, who is now a principal at the Albright Stonebridge Group. “They try to make the best of the situation. They try to get their guys as close as possible and get guys pre-positioned along the route to have as much situational awareness as they can. They don’t have the same level of control as they normally do.”

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2013/12/obama-south-africa-nelson-mandela-100827.html