Inside The Mind Of George W. Bush

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Many Republicans bristled at how the White House dealt with Congress. After the first year, informal consultations dropped off dramatically. "This Administration built no bridges," complains a G.O.P. Senator. "It was stunning to everybody." Another Republican Senator says that even when profound questions are at stake, "[Bush] doesn't like the give-and-take." At a meeting with Democratic and G.O.P. lawmakers wary about voting for the Iraq-war resolution, the President, according to a Republican Senator, walked in and said, "Look, I want your vote. I'm not going to debate it with you." When one of the Senators interrupted to ask him a question, Bush snapped, "Look, I'm not going to debate it with you." Republicans who step off the reservation are reviled by the White House even more than Democrats are. "You're essentially considered the enemy," says another G.O.P. Senator who has crossed swords with the White House. "And they use that term with you."

For his part, Bush portrays himself as not the perpetrator but the victim of inflexibility. "Washington is a much more bitter, ugly place, dominated by special interests, than I ever envisioned," he tells TIME. "If you sign on to this idea, you will then betray this cause." Bush says he will keep trying to reach out to the other side, but he is not about to change his ways. "I'm going to make hard decisions. Some don't like that. But my job is to solve problems, not pass them on."

He still has big problems to solve if he wins a second term, including some of his own making. He talks proudly about having got results, but the results are mixed. There are lots of Republicans who hate the expensive Medicare prescription-drug bill, fiscal conservatives who are horrified by a $237 billion surplus turning into a $396 billion deficit, Governors even in red states who complain that No Child Left Behind is underfunded and unworkable. Bush plans to lay out this week his vision for an "ownership society," which amounts to lots of little programs aimed at changing the relationship between citizens and institutions. He thinks that maybe things will go better this time, not because he would change but because the politics would. "I will be less threatening a person in the second term," he notes. "I mean, I won't be running again."

WHAT HAPPENED TO A HUMBLE FOREIGN POLICY?

The notion that 9/11 transformed Bush from a replica of his diplomat father into a bellowing warmonger may resonate with critics who see the Bush Doctrine as the greatest betrayal of his 2000 campaign rhetoric. But the evidence suggests otherwise. Back in 1999, when the Texas Governor was still just a primary candidate, his world view was plain to see. "Let me be clear," he said. "Our first line of defense is a simple message: Every group or nation must know, if they sponsor such [terrorist] attacks, our response will be devastating." Asked by TIME just after the election how he would respond to a challenge from Saddam, Bush replied, "I've learned one thing--I'd jump on him. If we launched strikes and they're halfway to the targets, we wouldn't turn them back. I assure you that. If they're launched, they will unload unless [Saddam] backs down. I won't turn them back based on some focus groups."