A Voice for Our Time: Those who think that Bush can't talk should think again

National Review, Sept 29, 2003 by Jay Nordlinger

For a man reputed to be "verbally challenged," George W. Bush has given some important speeches -- some impressive ones, too. Words matter a great deal to this president. In fact, when all is said and done, his presidency may be known for its rhetoric (among other things). Then George W. Bush, the tongue-tied embarrassment, will have the last laugh -- yet another last laugh.

"Misunderestimated" once more.

Of course, it makes a difference that we are at war. September 11 "changed everything," we're told, and it certainly changed the Bush presidency. A president must find his voice in wartime, as in no other time. Woodrow Wilson gave many excellent speeches, on a wide range of subjects. But it is his war oratory we remember. Franklin Roosevelt had the Great Depression, but then he became "Dr. Win the War," rising from a date of infamy to put paid to Tojoism and Hitlerism alike. Abraham Lincoln? He was sharp and eloquent on agricultural policy, as on everything else. But . . .

George W. Bush is an interesting mixture: He is a Texan and an Easterner; he is Establishment and counter-Establishment; he is fancy and folksy; he is forceful and jocular; he is presidential and everyday. His formal speeches tend to be elegant, polished affairs, composed by top-notch speechwriters (about whom, more later). But he does well enough on his own: whether winging it before an audience or responding to reporters. When he is most purely himself, he is blunt, unfussy, a little salty -- Trumanesque.

In July 2002, he was asked about the status of Osama bin Laden. "He may be alive," the president said. "If he is, we'll get him. If he's not, we got him." Speechwriters could labor for weeks and not come up with anything better.

This is also a quick and funny president. We all have our favorite examples, and I will cite one of mine, impressed on me by David Frum (a former Bush speechwriter himself, and the author of the superb memoir The Right Man: The Surprise Presidency of George W. Bush -- and a contributing editor, of course, to this magazine). Ozzy Osbourne was a guest at a big, noisy Washington dinner. Pointing out his funky tresses, the famous rocker-druggie said, "Mr. President, you should wear your hair like mine!" Bush responded, "Second term, Ozzy, second term."

WORDS TO GO WITH DEEDS

National Review has put together an interesting book. It's called "We Will Prevail": President George W. Bush on War, Terrorism, and Freedom. The book is a compilation of speeches and statements issuing from Bush since September 11. It contains very big speeches, like State of the Union addresses, and smaller -- though equally resonant -- statements: like the president's message through a bullhorn to rescue workers at Ground Zero. It features the defining speech at West Point, but also what Bush said while lighting the national Christmas tree. We see him, and hear him, before a variety of audiences, in a variety of settings. He talks to military personnel, world leaders, the employees of the Dixie Printing Company (Glen Burnie, Md.). We get not only a sense of the time, but a sense of the job of president -- and a sense, I dare say, of America itself.

To peruse this volume is to be forced to live through September 11 and its aftermath -- once again. It's surprising how much can be forgotten, in such a short space. (The Taliban, anyone?) The president himself recognized this tendency early on. Here he is on October 4, 2001: "I fully understand . . . there will be times when people feel a sense of normalcy -- and I hope that happens sooner rather than later -- and that September 11th may be a distant memory to some. But not to me, and not to this nation." Some 13 months later, he said, "One of my jobs is to make sure nobody gets complacent. One of my jobs is to remind people of the stark realities that we face. See, every morning I go into that great Oval Office and read threats to our country -- every morning. . . . Some of them are blowhards [!], but we take every one of them seriously. It's the new reality."

Indeed.

As has often been noted, the president, on September 11, 2001, was reading to schoolchildren -- a common event in that more luxurious age. Then we suffered that shock. Quick as a flash -- that very day -- Bush said, "We will make no distinction between the terrorists who committed these acts and those who harbor them." Many times later, he would refer to this policy as his "doctrine." He would state it and re-state it in assorted ways, giving the impression that he was ever more committed to it. He also said on September 11, "America has stood down enemies before, and we will do so this time. None of us will ever forget this day. Yet we go forward to defend freedom and all that is good and just in our world."

That may sound like the language of a comic book -- but it was, to most of us, suitable language, and it reflected Bush's conviction that the current and ongoing conflict is one of good versus evil. One sees, in "We Will Prevail" , that he speaks frequently of "evildoers," "the evil ones," "the forces of evil," and the like. And he has been subjected to some mockery for this.