The PR department insists on calling me an "anchorman" - which, in England, conjures up burgundy jackets, waxed moustaches and hair moulded like marzipan

The email arrived last Thursday: "Just to let you know," the producer wrote, "the Secret Service will be visiting the office tomorrow at 1pm for a walk through." Jimmy Carter stopped running America more than a quarter of a century ago, he celebrated his 83rd birthday earlier this month and he spends a lot of time promoting free and fair elections in the not so free and fair corners of the world.

The Nobel Peace Prize laureate is thought to be a thoroughly benign presence on the international stage, but as a former Potus (President of the United States), he enjoys full Secret Service protection. A "walk through" is a euphemism for a posse of agents combing every square metre of the office, opening every cupboard, checking behind every shelf and imagining every possible threat to their charge. Team leader Agent Kristen - no surname - arrived in a pinstriped suit that looked suspiciously bulky around the waist. She took copious notes and kept the frothy small talk to a bare minimum.

The former president is due to appear on BBC World News America, a programme aimed at a US audience apparently thirsting for more international news. Having been a correspondent here for five years, I will now be presenting this one-hour show. The PR department in New York insists on calling me an "anchorman", which to many of my friends in England conjures up burgundy jackets, waxed moustaches and hair moulded like marzipan. I solemnly swear to commit none of the above crimes.

The East Wing

Whether it's the publicity campaign or because "America" appears in the title, the new programme has attracted some surprising voices. A few days before the launch, we get a call from the East Wing of the White House. "The first lady would like to be interviewed by the BBC." A hoax? A set-up? It turns out to be genuine and the next day we are ushered into the map room of the White House by a small army of press-minders with clipboards, Secret Service agents with earpieces and pages with gloves who make sure the camera crew doesn't touch the furniture. Suddenly it hits you. The presidency with all its trimmings is elected royalty.

Unlike her predecessor, Laura Bush has kept a low profile in the White House. She has given only a handful of interviews, but now she wants to send a message to Burma's generals and to Aung San Suu Kyi. She speaks eloquently and passionately and at one stage even hints that it might be a good idea to boycott the 2008 Olympics if Beijing doesn't intervene.

Walking the walk

These days, those seeking to get into the White House are less willing to chat. Senator Barack Obama has turned me down for a curbside interview at a rally in Virginia. By way of compensation, he adds: "Walk with me, Matt." As it turns out, this is an invitation not to walk and talk, but just to walk and gawp. It is a perfect time to start taking an interest in the walks of America's presidential candidates to see if their gait reveals anything about them. As the son of a Kenyan economist, the tall, tapering senator from Illinois, who has the physique of a long-distance runner, doesn't walk. He lopes with astonishing levity, as if permanently fighting weightlessness.

Senator Hillary Clinton also doesn't walk. She orbits. She leans back slightly, her posture creating an involuntary expression of mild but pleasant surprise, as if the potential voter were a long-lost friend. She moves among crowds in small circles, constantly rotating to bestow her radiance on every expectant onlooker. Who says she is cold and calculating? She's clearly loving it. Genuinely. I think.

And then there is Rudy Giuliani, the former mayor of New York, who famously ploughed through the dust and rubble of Lower Manhattan on 9/11 wearing a white surgical mask and looking as if a bag of flour had exploded all over him. And yes, he too doesn't walk. Rudy charges. He leans forward as if battling a strong wind head on, even though on the day we meet there is no visible threat from anyone and certainly no terrorist onslaught.

Matt Frei is the anchor of "BBC World News America" which can be seen in the UK on News 24 at 00.30 weeknights. His book, Only in America, is due to be published next spring

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