Like an economic Henry Kissinger, Mr Volcker shuttled around the world to placate foreign allies in the face of Nixon's marked indifference to international economics.
In the middle of a business trip, nothing can seem more enticing than the solitary silence of a hotel room, with no clients to amuse or placate in sight.
Mr Bolton held out the prospect of a quick trade deal, negotiated sector by sector (to placate those worried by American designs on Britain's health service) in the case of a no-deal Brexit.