Inside The Mind Of George W. Bush

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After Bush's nearly four years onstage, his world view has become his fate. "There's no question this is the most polarizing President in our history," says a veteran of his White House. "But that's his world. He sees things in black and white, and, well, guess what? Now people see him that way too. He made them that way. People either hate him or love him." People don't just disagree over his policies. They argue over the basic question of who he is, his intelligence, his integrity and his intentions. Was he a closet ideologue biding his time? Or did 9/11 change everything? People even disagree with themselves. Critics who once deplored his arrogance in dealing with Congress and the world felt differently when they sensed their safety was at stake. Some who praised his leadership in targeting Afghanistan condemned him for leading on to Iraq. His approval ratings have plummeted from 90% to 42% over the course of his term. George W. Bush may be unique among modern Presidents in being so transparent, so consistent and so divisive.

How does he reach out now, beyond wrapping his arms around popular G.O.P. moderates and sprinkling the compassion back onto the conservatism? He's not one to reinvent himself at this point. His hair is grayer, and his knees are shot from three-mile runs with little stretching, but overall he is remarkably unchanged by the events of his presidency. In talking to him, you get the sense he really cares about just one question: Who will keep you safer? Bush says "steady, strong leadership" is the card he puts on the table--he has stared down history. His rivals on the Democratic ticket, he suggests, are bound to blink. "If they're going to change one day, they may change again," he tells a Las Vegas crowd. "I think you need somebody who's gonna do what he says he's gonna do." Dick Cheney's version: "Indecision kills."

Voters wrestling with the confounding and controversial presidency of George W. Bush will have to decide whether, given the times we live in, that unyielding conviction is the best reason to vote for him or a reason not to. At least this time, he says, they know what they are getting and can judge for themselves whether he has chosen the right course. For his part, he doesn't look back. "I'm not the historian," he says. "I'm the guy making history."

WHY BUSH DOESN'T BUDGE