Frustration Nation

Bush's aides maintain that they're in no funk either. Previewing the final quarter of Bush's presidency, officials disclosed to TIME that the Administration is formulating a huge energy initiative designed to "change the whole nature of the discussion" and challenge the G.O.P., Democrats, the oil and electricity industries, and environmentalists. An adviser said Bush's views about global warming have evolved. "Only Nixon could go to China, and only Bush and Cheney--two oilmen--can bring all these parties kicking and screaming to the table," the adviser said.

Whatever the coming months hold, Bush advisers said they could safely predict there would be no more Dr. Phil--speak. The President doesn't fret in private, they say, so he won't in public. A friend said Bush hopes his ultimate legacy will be that he engaged the war on terrorism and started a multigenerational process of winning it, the way Harry Truman began winning the cold war. No one remembers Harry Truman ruminating about the nation's temperament.