Obama Reaches out to Former President of France

President Obama wrote a letter to Jaques Chirac, the former President of France, saying he hoped the two could work together for the next four years (at least he accepts he will be a one-term President). I speak very little French, but it sounds like Obama discussed their mutual opposition to the war in Iraq.

I wonder two things:

First, does Obama think he is going to improve our standing in the world by dealing not with current leaders of other countries, but with their predecessors? How is the going to help build a coalition to help deal with problems like Iran?

Second, how would Obama feel if current French President Nicolas Sarkozy attempted to continue working with President Bush, instead of Obama? Sarkozy was a big supporter of W.

Finally, it seems that this contradicts his earlier statement of "one president at a time" dealing with foreign affairs. However, it could also mean that he really wants to deal with only one French president, and it's not the current one. It's going to be tough to get France's help on any issue when discussing the matter with someone out of power.