Bush to embrace a bold agenda

President Bush opens his second term at noon today with one eye on an ambitious domestic agenda and the other on his legacy as a leader of the free world seeking to establish freedom and democracy in the Middle East and beyond.

His 17-minute inaugural address, which by late yesterday already had gone through 20 revisions, will reflect the soul of a man who sees freedom as God’s gift to mankind and the spread of democracy as an unstoppable force for good.

“We are led, by events and common sense, to one conclusion: The survival of liberty in our land increasingly depends on the success of liberty in other lands. The best hope for peace in our world is the expansion of freedom in all the world,” he will say, according to excerpts released last night by the White House.

“America has need of idealism and courage, because we have essential work at home ? the unfinished work of American freedom. In a world moving toward liberty, we are determined to show the meaning and promise of liberty,” he will say.

Mr. Bush, whose agenda includes making his tax cuts permanent, reforming the Social Security system and revamping U.S. immigration laws — all while overseeing 150,000 U.S. troops in Iraq as commander in chief — knows Americans are skeptical.

“You’re probably sitting there saying, ‘Has the guy bit off more than he can chew?’ The answer is, we will work as hard as we can to get as much as we can get done, as quickly as possible,” the president told The Washington Times in an interview in the Oval Office last week.

In the nation’s first presidential inauguration since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, security will be tight as an estimated 500,000 people flock to Washington for the noon swearing-in on the West Front of the Capitol and the traditional afternoon parade along Pennsylvania Avenue from the Capitol to the White House.

The weather — forecast to be cold and breezy with occasional light snow — also is expected to play a factor in what some officials predict will be gridlocked roads and even more packed public transportation.

By evening, even before Mr. Bush and first lady Laura Bush head out for a night of dancing and revelry, the weight of the presidency will be upon him again. Tomorrow, he will awake to begin work on a massive agenda that he will begin pursuing inside a frenetic schedule for the next 30 days.

After today’s speech — expected to pound home the message that, as Mr. Bush says, “Freedom is powerful” — the president and his team of advisers will prepare for the Jan. 30 elections in Iraq.

Soon after, Mr. Bush will deliver the State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress. That speech will be heavy on domestic agenda items, including revamping Social Security and trimming the deficit. Later next month, he will submit his fiscal 2006 budget, expected to hold an increase in discretionary spending to less than 2 percent.

Also in February, Mr. Bush will take the first overseas trip of his second term, making several stops in Europe and meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. He will do all this while searching for someone to take the powerful new position of national intelligence director and working to re-establish the Israeli-Palestinian peace process after this month’s Palestinian elections.

For Mr. Bush, that is just the way he likes it.

“The president does have an exceptionally ambitious agenda — some say too ambitious — but that only makes him push harder,” said a former administration official who asked not to be named. “This is a guy who loves winning the fight everyone says can’t be won.”

Mr. Bush, whose annual physicals show a 58-year-old man in superb health, approaching that of a world-class athlete, says he is ready for the tough work ahead.

Story Continues →