...that day that stunned him and the nation, Mr. Bush began learning in earnest about the lethal powers available to him as commander in chief. He soon sent soldiers off to fight in the mountains of Afghanistan and in the streets of Baghdad, and as the still-bloody battle rages in Iraq, he faces an electorate deeply divided over whether he rushed into war without adequate cause.
Mr. Bush has proved himself very much his own man in the Oval Office. He differs, perhaps deliberately, in substance and style from his father. A willful, hands-on manager, he accepts advice and guidance from his inner circle, but often follows his own impulse for bold action.
If Mr. Bush has left the nation more polarized, on domestic policy as much as on his approach to national security, he expresses few regrets. And though he appears a little less cocky, he is no more prone now than he was four years ago to self-doubt.
"I can't tell you exactly how determined I was prior to 2000," the president said in an interview last week. "I can tell you that now, I am resolute and determined to succeed, and to lead this country."
Mr. Bush will have a place in history. Precisely what it will be depends in large part on whether the course he has set results in stable democracy in Iraq, helps contain Islamic extremism and achieves the right balance between advancing American interests and trying to knit together a fractious world.
As a leader and politician, Mr. Bush has displayed traits that infuriate and intimidate his opponents and sometimes surprise even his supporters. In a complex world, he rejects ambiguity for the certitude of the choice between good and evil and the comfort of a morality shaped by his religious faith. When faced with a political setback, he has a knack for capitulating and then claiming victory.
Perhaps most of all, the president who ambled through his first 40 years remains a man of enormous ambition, ferociously determined to succeed - and at last outdo his father - in what he calls the final campaign of his life.
Mr. Bush is a street-smart, intuitive politician, heavily influenced by Lee Atwater, his friend and his father's attack dog of a campaign manager in 1988. He is ruthless, quick to pass judgment and quickly figures out what other people want from him and what he must do to get their support. Unlike his father, he sees the world not through the nuance of policy but through the combat of politics.
