Posted on 12/08/2001 6:10:38 PM PST by Pokey78
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. "
Others who have known the president for years remarked about his maturation.
"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.
"He'll say, `Let's move it along,' " said one of Mr. Bush's senior aides.
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.
"He laughed and said, `Don't tell anybody,' " the aide said.
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 not consistant with the duties of the president for him to be in seclusion away from the White House on a routine basis, so the Vice President must be routinely secluded. Indeed, on some occasions Mr. Bush is in seclusion while Mr. Cheney appears in public. Both men assume higher profiles from time to time, as required to perform their offices, but not simultaneously.
The USSS has new guidelines for this time to ensure we continue to have a President who was elected to the office.
A bit hyperbolic, but not far from the truth! LOL!!
Just imagine how we'll all feel in 7 more years!!
In case you didn't get any details about W's decision to run. He was listening to a sermon by Pastor Mark Craig about Moses' unwillingness to lead, and his ultimate obedience. He said that people are "starved for leadership" with ethical and moral courage, and that America needed moral leaders who knew right from wrong and did what was right for the right reason. His Mom said later, "He was talking to you."
I do believe she was right!
Seems kind of surreal now, doesn't it? It was a weekend a year ago today that the USSC was going into its final deliberation after that riciculous ruling by the Florida Supremes. Thank God things turned out the way they did and Gore failed at stealing the election. I feel so much more secure in these uncertain times with George W. at the helm.
The press people don't think individually but collectively. One person comes up with an idea and then they all start to preach it. It's so disgusting. Rush parodies this all the time and it is so true. Talk about sheeple!
W does have a tremendous burden to bear. Too bad the Dems have to make it even worse with their negative campaigning and outright lying. How W can stand to work with these yahoos is beyond me. I prayed so hard for W today. He's gonna need it.
Hope W kicks some whoopass this week at Dasshole and the Senate. Loved his radio address..."The House has acted. The Senate has not." Needs to be his new mantra.
In this age of pyschobabble, when having a private therapist is just as much a status symbol as driving an expensive car, don't read too much into the "drinking problem" comment. In fact, I don't think that comment is usually made disdainfully. It's just one of the things liberals can relate to.
Unlike that thing that previously occupied the White House.
Interesting observation -- I believe Blunt is referring to the Truman-like quality of W, as stated by Gov. Rowland, "What you see is what you get." Keeps his aides and advisors from trying to have to figure out what he wants.
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."
How reassuring!
owf, thx for the flag.
Good point. With Bush, as with Truman, "the buck stops here." With the creature who formerly resided in the White House, it was "define 'buck,' define 'here.' "
I really love this story. Especially since Moses was such a reluctant leader at first, protesting that he was not a good speaker. And that's exactly what people said about George W. "He's not a good speaker, he mispronounces words, he doesn't give great, stirring speeches like Reagan did!" etc. And some even said that Clinton was a better speaker than GW, which I certainly don't agree with!! But look at Bush now! Look at all the exceptional, stirring and inspirational speeches he has given, especially since 9/11.
I know George W. will never admit that God put him where he is, (he's too modest) but I absolutely believe that He did. During all those long, awful weeks of recounts, dimpled chads, court decisions, etc., it was as if a battle was going on for the soul of this nation. And when the dust had settled, God showed us mercy. He gave us George W!
Amen! I do too!!
And I love the parallel with Moses too. Though W never had the speaking problems that the press wanted people to believe he did, God has given him a clarity of speech, and most of all deep wisdom and the passion to communicate the message of faith, resolve, and patriotism that this country so desperately needs right now.
Thank you for this correction.
You are so right. Humor is a shield, a weapon, and an ointment.
Prayers for our president.
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