Man with a Mission
BARNES, FRED
Man with a Mission George W. Bush finds his calling. BY FRED BARNES ON THE AFTERNOON before his televised speech to the nation on September 20, President Bush invited 27 religious leaders to join...
...Bush has said he reads the Bible every morning and prays frequently during the day...
...One White House official, in an off-the-record speech, spoke of Bush's role now as his destiny...
...He's not overeager...
...Bush spent more than an hour with the group, talking about his concerns as president and listening to their views...
...This has caused grumbling among Republicans on Capitol Hill...
...But he also understands we cannot know the mind of God and has said so...
...President Lincoln's faith was ambiguous, but he saved the Union...
...Later in the afternoon, six of the religious leaders—a Catholic cardinal, a Sikh, an imam, a rabbi, and two evangelical Protestants—talked and prayed with Bush in the Oval Office...
...If, years from now, we see that the evil of terrorism was dramatically restrained through Bush's leadership, we'll know he was called...
...In our grief and anger we have found our mission and our moment," the president said...
...Bush's belief in his calling has altered his relationship with top aides...
...Bush was a moderately successful businessman, then general manager of a baseball team...
...A calling may not be religious, but it's more than just having stumbled into a job or career...
...In his September 20 address, he said they "plot evil and destruction...
...The economy still needs spurring, but on September 13 Bush said the nation "must understand [the war on terrorism] is now the focus of my administration...
...He characterizes the war in religious terms, as one against "evil" and "evildoers...
...Whether in a Christian or a more secular sense, Bush believes he's been "called" to lead the country in the war against terrorism...
...BY FRED BARNES ON THE AFTERNOON before his televised speech to the nation on September 20, President Bush invited 27 religious leaders to join him at the White House and draft an ecumenical response to the terrorist attacks on America...
...In a photo opportunity at the start of a White House session with Muslim leaders, he used the word "evil" six times in responding to reporters' questions...
...God knows the future, Merritt told Bush, and knew the terrorist attack would occur while Bush was president...
...I will not rest...
...Some who've met with Bush sense it in his demeanor...
...And responded well...
...Though Bush hasn't called terrorists Satan, he's come close...
...In hindsight, it looks like he answered God's call...
...Bush himself has often said he thinks "things happen for a reason...
...He said Bush's early career hardly pointed to the White House, but God changed his path...
...There was an awareness, a participant said, "of a real calling here...
...Bush asked for prayers for the country, the victims of September 11, himself, his family...
...What's the practical effect of this...
...I will not yield," he declared in his September 20 speech...
...attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon "may be the reason he's president, the purpose for which he's been put in office—his calling...
...We see it in Bush's personal behavior...
...The religious leaders who met with him were struck by his calm...
...At the same time, he's counseled patience in retaliating against terrorists...
...There's a sense of destiny...
...Success is not guaranteed...
...Last year, he lost the popular vote, but wound up in the White House anyway...
...And he spoke about the country in terms that might apply to himself...
...They prayed, holding hands, and sang "God Bless America...
...He's less deferential now and didn't hesitate to override Powell's plan for releasing proof of Osama bin Laden's culpability and to do so in public with Powell by his side...
...I will not relent in waging this struggle for freedom and security for the American people...
...But there's another take on "calling...
...He feels it's not just by accident or luck that he's president now...
...Bush and his aides have discussed it...
...He's decided his initiatives must be as bipartisan as possible—whatever it takes to keep broad support for the war...
...James Merritt, president of the Southern Baptist Convention, told Bush he had been chosen by God to lead the nation in the fight to protect America and the world against terrorism...
...He said "God is not neutral" in the war against terrorism...
...Policy has also been affected...
...This feeling is reflected in the president's speeches, his comments to reporters, and his conduct...
...The stage was set for Bush to be God's agent of wrath...
...Bush has found his...
...God's hand is on you...
...The opposite happened...
...The president nodded...
...He said, "the country is called to defend freedom...
...Either way, Bush is sure he's been called to lead America at this moment in history...
...It's a calling like that of a fireman who feels called to his work to save people...
...Jimmy Carter was a sincere Christian, willing to endure criticism for being "born again," but he failed as president...
...He could have taken a less dangerous, better paying job, but didn't...
...Several religious leaders at the larger gathering on September 20 referred to his calling...
...So is he...
...Besides, Christians recognize God doesn't use only believers...
...His language reinforces this...
...Given that, getting his way on domestic policy is less important now...
...The most important speech of his presidency was a few hours away, plus dinner with British prime minister Tony Blair, yet Bush appeared to have all the time in the world to confer with them...
...Bush has also defined the war on terrorism in the broadest possible terms...
...I believe you are God's man for this hour," Merritt said...
...He favors an economic stimulus package that's agreeable to congressional Democratic leaders...
...He said First Lady Laura Bush had "chastened" him for saying Osama bin Laden was "wanted dead or alive" and indicated he wouldn't be using that phrase again...
...Jean Elshtain, a professor of religion and politics at the University of Chicago, said he exuded a combination of humility and self-confidence...
...A few weeks ago, Bush said spurring the economy was the top priority of his administration...
...He seemed to defer to them...
...Karl Rove, his senior adviser, says the need to defend America and eradicate terrorism following the Fred Barnes is executive editor of THE WEEKLY STANDARD...
...At least some White House staffers think so...
...He accepted it and, a few years later, landed in the White House...
...That view may be hard for non-Christians—and even some Christians—to swallow...
...Pre-September 11, Bush often appeared to be the student of Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of State Colin Powell, and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on national security issues...
...Last Friday in a photo op with King Abdullah of Jordan, he said the bin Laden gang represented "evil and hate and destruction...
...That's the risky course, but Bush has expressed no qualms about staking his presidency on it...
...Bush had a calling to public service...
...They may have more experience, but the burden of leadership is on him...
...It was Merritt, the Southern Baptist, who gave Bush a Christian view of his calling...
...In 1994, he was expected to lose the race for governor of Texas, while his brother Jeb was supposed to win the governorship in Florida...
...That's no longer the case...
...Bush has voiced this in public...
...This reflects, from all outward evidence, a commitment to carry the fight well beyond snuffing out Osama bin Laden and his network...
...Nearly everyone who's met privately with Bush since the attacks has been impressed by his resolve to defeat the perpetrators of terrorism...
Vol. 7 • October 2001 • No. 4
