Jokes Remain, but Bush Shows Signs of War's Burden

WASHINGTON, Dec. 8 — He may be a wartime president, but President Bush was hardly solemn during a meeting at the White House with a handful of lawmakers last month, days after he threw out the first pitch of a World Series game at Yankee Stadium.

"He said, `I didn't know then that New Yorkers could wave with all of their fingers!' " recalled Representative Roy Blunt, a Missouri Republican who is close to Mr. Bush.

"This is serious business," Mr. Blunt said of the burdens on the president, "but he has definitely not lost his sense of humor."

While he still cannot resist a joke or two (even ribald ones), dozens of friends and advisers who have spent time with Mr. Bush said in interviews that since Sept. 11 he has conducted himself far more seriously than he had before.

Friends say that while Mr. Bush usually appears upbeat — and is trying to convey a sense of normality — the terrorist attacks have weighed on the 55-year-old president far more than the lowest moments of the grueling presidential campaign.

"It's aged the hell out of him," said Gov. William J. Janklow of South Dakota, a Republican who for years has been close to Mr. Bush and his parents. "Look at his hair. Look at the lines on his face. It's incredible, the toll. He's the only guy in history who had to take lessons to get that smirk off his face. He's a jokester. But right now he's probably consciously trying to avoid that stuff. He sees the mortality of himself and others. The fact that he lives in a building where an airplane may have been heading to blow him up — that would weigh on you enormously."

Describing the demands on Mr. Bush as unimaginable, Mr. Janklow said: "Good grief. He goes to bed at night not knowing when the next suicide idiot is going to blow himself up in the Middle East, in New York City or Timbuktu, Ind."

Given the solemnity of the times, several of Mr. Bush's friends say, he has restrained his natural jocularity but also sought a balance so as not to set too gloomy a tone.

"It's a little more somber when you're dealing with life-and-death issues instead of the patients' bill of rights," said Karl Rove, Mr. Bush's chief political adviser. "I don't think the genuine warmth and charisma are gone. But being a wartime president means you're dealing with war. There's a clear command presence. When those admirals and generals leave the Oval Office, you can see they've been with the commander in chief."

Events have left Mr. Bush little choice but to rise to the challenge, but many loyalists say they are nevertheless struck by how much more comfortable and engaged he seems than three months ago.

In a White House that prided itself on punctuality and brevity in meetings and memos, aides say Mr. Bush has become even more businesslike and less patient with long-winded advisers. Meetings that in more tranquil times ran 45 minutes now often take about 20. But people who have met with Mr. Bush say he speaks intensely about his religious beliefs and what he views as his mission to guide the country through war.

While Mr. Janklow said Mr. Bush "will acknowledge the pressures" when asked privately, most of his friends say he conceals any stress he may have.

"Quite frankly, he's very low maintenance," said Marc Racicot, the former Montana governor whom Mr. Bush this week named as chairman of the Republican National Committee. "I've never seen him agitated or anxious. His heart is heavy for the pain, there's no question about that, but everyone's is."

Mr. Racicot said that when he and his wife, Theresa, had dinner with the Bushes a few weeks ago in the White House, Mr. Bush acknowledged that he was "moved by the extraordinary heroism" displayed on and since Sept. 11. But he said the president comfortably went on to chat about his twin daughters.

"He knows my children; I know his," Mr. Racicot said. "We just talked about the impossibility of raising young children. He has two daughters and I have three, and we were just commiserating about the challenge of 50-year-old fathers with 20-year-old daughters."

Some of Mr. Bush's friends say his strength lies in what he was often ridiculed for during the campaign: seeing the big picture and not delving into details.

"My personal view is that complexity in a leader is not a helpful thing," Representative Blunt said, "and certainly not a helpful thing in a crisis."

Mr. Bush's advisers insisted that he was quite engaged in the day-to- day war operations. But they conceded that he was not by nature as hands-on as presidents like Jimmy Carter, who during the Iranian hostage crisis was involved with such details as the number of helicopters needed for a rescue mission.

Former Senator Alan K. Simpson of Wyoming, a confidant of former President George Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney, said the current President Bush had displayed a fortitude that comes from having overcome his drinking more than a decade ago.

"Once you've licked one of those things, there are no phantoms out there — and you're ahead of the game emotionally," Mr. Simpson said.

White House officials and Mr. Bush's friends are extraordinarily sensitive to observations that the president has grown into the job. They argue that people never gave him enough credit during the campaign.

"All the doubters and cynics will say he's changed," said Gov. John G. Rowland of Connecticut, chairman of the Republican Governors Association. "He's not changed. I'll argue that till death. What you see is what you get. "

"If you look at pre-Sept. 11, he was getting his sea legs, he was dealing with a change in the Senate majority," said Gov. Dirk Kempthorne of Idaho, a former senator. "He was realizing that it is a rough-and-tumble world of politics in D.C. He was experiencing for the first time that it is a contact sport. But the pressures of the terrorist attacks have really enhanced the maturing. All the potential was there; it's now harnessed into reality."

Recalling that Mr. Bush was a cutup at governors' meetings not so long ago, Mr. Kempthorne said the transformation had been striking. "At the National Governors Association meeting, he'd be one of us sitting at the table and there'd be a twinkle in his eye," he said. "You knew there was something he was thinking that would be humorous, always lighthearted. There's still going to be a joke, but it's followed by the harsh reality of what he's dealing with."

Gov. Bill Owens of Colorado said the president did not display "quite as much of the hail fellow well met." At a recent meeting with some governors, Mr. Owens said, Mr. Bush displayed a new stature. "It wasn't our friend the president who used to be a governor," he said. "It was the president. We all looked at him a little differently that day, given what he was in the middle of."

When Mr. Bush does tease people, the subject often involves one of his passions, baseball. Just before Thanksgiving, on a trip to Fort Campbell, Ky., to buck up the 101st Airborne Division, Mr. Bush bounded out of his cabin on Air Force One to greet his guests, including Senator Jim Bunning of Kentucky, a former major-league pitcher who is in the Hall of Fame. "The president appears in the cabin, very confidently, and there's Jim Bunning and the president says he threw a fastball at the World Series that Bunning would be jealous of," Senator Bill Frist of Tennessee recalled.

Despite the view — not universally shared by his friends — that Mr. Bush has aged visibly, he has been working out even more rigorously since Sept. 11.

"The fact that he's running a seven-minute mile now attests to the discipline he's bringing to his whole life right now," said Mark McKinnon, Mr. Bush's chief media consultant during the 2000 campaign. "He has more snap, more energy, more focus." (Before Sept. 11, Mr. McKinnon said, Mr. Bush was 27 to 30 seconds slower.)

Mr. Bush is a better listener at meetings than he was before Sept. 11, aides say. Yet they also say he asks more questions, and sooner, in an effort to shorten meetings.

After a recent meeting of the National Economic Council, the aide said he complimented Mr. Bush for prodding the participants into ending it 10 minutes early — without their seeming to realize what he had done.

Some of Mr. Bush's oldest friends say they regret that they have not heard from the president since Sept. 11. But, they insist, they understand.

"He doesn't write; he doesn't call," said a tongue-in-cheek H. Grant Thomas, who has known Mr. Bush since junior high school. "But somebody described him as the least neurotic person on the planet, and I think that's true. In terms of the big picture he has a sense of buoyancy, of calm, of focus, which comes in handy in a situation like this where it can be very easy to get confused and scared."

"It is a god's burden to bear. Unfortunately it must be bourne by a man."

Thankfully we have GWB to bear this burden. It will take everything he has got. And he will give it.

Good article. Extraordinary, in fact, for the Times and for this particular writer.

Frankly, it doesn't much matter whether they want to think Bush grew into the job. If that's the story they need in order to reassure themselves they they badly misunderstood the man, just as long as they recognize his capabilities now, that's what counts. The longer this war goes on, the harder it will be for them to pretend that Bush has gone back to being stupid again after it's over. I'm still seeing the stupid jokes from liberals, but they are getting scarcer every day.

God bless our President.
I am so thankful that he is President.
I can sleep without worrying about some new leftist idea.
I think Bush's integrity is making the average American regret Clinton and realize what a clown he was. (I could go on) And its so obvious the toll it has taken on him, and it makes me worried but over all, very very grateful.

What with the reports that Cheney is being kept at a distance because of the possibility of a suitcase nuke or dirty bomb, I constantly wonder whether the danger to Laura and others who surround him must not be weighing on him heavily.

President Bush has already proved himself not only as a great leader, but also as a great man under enormous pressure. History will show him as one of the best.

It's funny to think that only a year ago all of the mess in Florida was going on.

The burden of sending American military into harms way must be horrendous. You know that he cares about each and every man who is over there, about to go over there, may someday have to go over there. You can see it on his face when he addresses the troops.

He is exactly the kind of leader our military deserves, and I am grateful that he's the CiC.

Why are they so worried about safeguarding Cheney and not the President all of a sudden? Is there a cabal out there that would rather have him in the Oval Office? I have to admit I've never liked Cheney that much and I really didn't much care for Mr. "New World Order" either, aka GW Bush's dad. But I do agree that the current President Bush is conveying a sense of calmness under fire.

I think even the NY Times realizes that we dodged a bullet when Gore went down to defeat, albeit grudgingly.

As Moses had two faithful folks hold his arms up when the Israelies were in battle, we need to come before the Lord with our prayers and petitions for our president, and hold hims arms up in a spiritual way - - for he is, indeed engaged not only in a battle with bin laden, but a battle for the soul of this country. Let's be there to support him and intercede with the Lord on the president's behalf.

My friends, I think back at last year at this time. I believed that it was so crucial and I know most of you did as well that George W. Bush take his rightfully elected position in the executive seat. However, little of us would have known that this tragedy has shown many that fought so hard last year as being very wise. I commend all of those in the Free Republic, TomG, Butterfly, OkieGirl, BigWaveBetty, christine11, and many others that stood firm in belief when even naysayers on our side were ready to give up. God has protected this wonderful land and I believe that since September 11th has continued to do so without any of us really knowing. God has put the correct man in the White House and May God be blessed by his humble servant that I proudly call my President. God Bless everyone!!

"It is not just an office. It is a charge to keep......and I will give it my all.".... George W. Bush.

Praise God for this man! If it costs him everything, he will be obedient to God's call.

Thanks for the ping patriciaruth. My respect for George W. Bush grows daily.

An excellent article, R. Berke or not. Who in their right mind would like to trade places with GW. Daschle, Leahy, et al look small in comparison. It's times like these when all Americans should have compassion for the occupant of the Oval Office. Compare GW's actions to Jimmy Carter's paralysis when he was confronted by crisis (Klintoon was an 8 year carnival sideshow and doesn't figure into Presidential comparisons). Stay strong GW.

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