War, recession transformed Bush in his 1st year

WASHINGTON — Friends notice more gray in his hair and more confidence in his voice. Few people call him an isolationist anymore. Fewer still wonder if he's up to the job.

War and recession transformed the Bush presidency — and some say George W. Bush himself — since he swore the oath of office Jan. 20, 2001.

On that cold, raw day, Bush quoted Thomas Jefferson to assure a divided nation that an American president — even one whose election was disputed — has help from above in troubled times.

"We know the race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong," Bush said in his inaugural address. "Do you not think an angel rides in the whirlwind and directs this storm?"

Soon after, storms struck his own presidency.

The political landscape forever changed by war and recession, Bush's plans for health care, energy policy and other agenda items were scuttled or delayed, but his tax cuts gained currency. Budget surpluses became deficits. Bipartisanship made a brief comeback. The war alone forced him to improve relations with Russia and European allies and it changed the public's perception of the new president.

"He went from an accidental president who was a 'Saturday Night Live' joke to the commander in chief," said Bill Carrick, a Democratic political consultant in Los Angeles.

The recession began in March, but Bush's entire first year was marked by rising unemployment rates. The economy became his greatest political worry.

The war began Sept. 11 when suicide hijackers slammed commercial planes into Washington, New York and a Pennsylvania field. A U.S.-led coalition began bombing Afghanistan in October, targeting the terrorist-hiding Taliban regime and mastermind Osama bin Laden.

"The war helped him get beyond the controversy of a disputed election and let people accept him emotionally as president," said Carrick. "It changed everything about this presidency."

Starting, perhaps, with the president himself.

"Determining who lives and dies, putting soldiers at risk, has an impact," said Brad Freeman, a California fund-raiser and Bush pal. "He looks a little older. I don't know what it is, his hair a little grayer or what."

Picking at a salad in her West Wing office, Bush adviser Karen Hughes said it's been a tough 12 months at the White House.

"One for the history books," she said. "I'm ready to turn the last page on it."