An Unvarnished President on Display

By Mike Allen
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, September 19, 2001; Page A07

When President Bush made the startlingly frank declaration at the Pentagon this week that he wanted Osama bin Laden "dead or alive," triggering huge "Wanted" posters in New York tabloids, it was no off-the-cuff taunt. Bush had said the same thing in private to Mexican President Vicente Fox on the telephone Sunday afternoon, as he worked to build international support for a war against terrorism.

That is not typical language for a world leader, nor is it the language of diplomacy. But friends and staffers promise that it is genuine Bush, and White House officials say they are anxious to showcase his unvarnished instincts as he leads the nation into a war that could result in retaliatory strikes and numerous American casualties.

Administration officials said Bush is working each day to educate the public and fan the flames of patriotism, recognizing that -- as his father found after the Persian Gulf War -- the nation could swing away from him as rapidly as it rallied. The result has been daily -- and escalating -- warnings about the "barbarians" and "evil-doers" he wants to bring to justice.

"There's a conversation going on here," a White House official said. "He's saying, 'I want you to understand what's coming, but I also want you to understand that I understand how you feel.' That's a two-way thing that only the president can create."

Bush's approval rating in polls has soared since the attacks, as is typical for a president when he first faces hostility abroad. Bush's counselor, Karen P. Hughes, said that shows the president is connecting with a public that is thirsty for comfort and leadership.

"People are seeing a lot more of him than they normally would," she told a group of reporters yesterday in her West Wing office, with CNN "America's New War" coverage flashing silently behind her. "Let's face it, what they normally see is a seven-second, edited sound bite. Now they're seeing his entire conversation."

Democratic officials say they are reluctant to criticize Bush, and are anxious for him to be successful in any military mission. But some officials said they fear some of his recent remarks have been a tad too hot for international consumption, and have not helped reassure skittish markets. "This isn't a WWF Smackdown match, but perhaps the most momentous decision a president has faced since the Cuban missile crisis," one Democratic strategist said.

Some in the White House say the occasionally jarring colloquialisms are part of a strategy to "let Bush be Bush," a phrase borrowed from a drive by conservatives to squelch moderates around President Ronald Reagan (including the vice president, one George H.W. Bush). Administration efforts to convey Bush's authenticity have popped up periodically throughout his eight-month presidency. Now, the stakes are much higher than selling a prescription drug plan.

People who have talked to Bush in recent days said he is acutely aware that his role, and place in history, were transformed by the attacks. "He feels that we have all been called upon to defend freedom," Hughes said. "In talking with us about what he wants to convey to the American people, he's talking about the opportunity we have to really extend freedom throughout the world, and to take on a cancer that's been growing and spreading in countries across the world, and that this gives us the opportunity to secure a peace for our children and our grandchildren."

The White House palace guard is always anxious to show that Bush is in charge, and Hughes yesterday took the unusual step of releasing a handwritten note the president had given her Wednesday morning, the day after the suicide hijackings, for use in preparing talking points for a photo opportunity at the end of a national security meeting.

Bush had scratched out "This is an enemy that hides," and made it "runs & hides." Then he added, "But won't be able to hide forever." After Bush's aides worked up his talking points and the cameras were rolling later that morning, he said: "This is an enemy who preys on innocent and unsuspecting people, then runs for cover. But it won't be able to run for cover forever. This is an enemy that tries to hide. But it won't be able to hide forever."

White House official said Bush's rhetoric has intentionally become more martial, even though he has to balance that with pleas for patience. Hughes said that in his Oval Office address on the night of the attacks, "He deliberately, that evening, did not use the word 'war.' . . . His primary goal that evening was reassurance and calming."

The next morning, he called Hughes into the Oval Office and she began discussing news coverage of the upcoming national security meeting. "He looked at me and said, 'Forget all that, we've got to focus on the big picture here. We need to prepare the country for what lies ahead.' "

The White House is filled these days with reminders of how much the world has changed. After the intelligence briefing Bush receives each morning, he gets an FBI briefing on the terrorist investigation. He also holds a 10-minute communication session with Hughes, Vice President Cheney, Chief of Staff Andrew H. Card Jr. and national security adviser Condoleezza Rice to coordinate the day's messages about the crisis -- a practice he followed while the crew of a Navy surveillance plane was being held in China.

Uniformed Secret Service officers have black bands on their badges. Staffers wear American flags on their lapels. And each time Bush appears in public, he uses his words as weapons, as he did last night when he said he is determined "to rally the world toward a campaign to find terrorists, to smoke them out of their holes, and to get them, and to bring them to justice."

Those aren't the reasons Bush ran for president, or what he had hoped for as he looked ahead from Inauguration Day. But Hughes said he recently told her, "Through my tears, I see opportunity."