<P> John Major carried a lot of water for me and for the alliance over Bosnia . I know he was under a lot of political pressure at home, but he never wavered . He was a truly decent guy who never let me down . We worked really well together, and I got to like him a lot . </P> <P> A rift opened in a further area . In February 1994, Major refused to answer Clinton's telephone calls for days over his decision to grant Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams a visa to visit the United States to agitate . Adams was listed as a terrorist by London . The U.S. State Department, the CIA, the U.S. Justice Department and the FBI all opposed the move on the grounds that it made the United States look "soft on terrorism" and "could do irreparable damage to the special relationship". Under pressure from Congress, the president hoped the visit would encourage the IRA to renounce violence . While Adams offered nothing new, and violence escalated within weeks, the president later claimed vindication after the IRA ceasefire of August 1994 . To the disappointment of the prime minister, Clinton lifted the ban on official contacts and received Adams at the White House on St. Patrick's Day 1995, despite the fact the paramilitaries had not agreed to disarm . The rows over Northern Ireland and the Adams affair reportedly "provoked incandescent Clintonian rages". </P> <P> In November 1995, Clinton became only the second US president ever to address both Houses of Parliament, but, by the end of Major's premiership, disenchantment with the Special Relationship had deepened to the point where the incoming British ambassador Christopher Meyer banned the "hackneyed phrase" from the embassy . </P> <P> The election of British prime minister Tony Blair in 1997 brought an opportunity to revive what Clinton called the two nations' "unique partnership". At his first meeting with his new partner, the president said: "Over the last fifty years our unbreakable alliance has helped to bring unparalleled peace and prosperity and security . It's an alliance based on shared values and common aspirations ." The personal relationship was seen as especially close because the leaders were "kindred spirits" in their domestic agendas . New Labour's Third Way, a moderate social - democratic position, was partly influenced by US New Democratic thinking . </P>

Which of the following strengthened the alliance between the united states and britain