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American Morning

Fate of Presidents Determined by Actions in Crises

Aired October 09, 2001 - 11:53   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: A president can rise to greatness during a national emergency, witness FDR. Or crisis can undo a presidency, Lyndon Johnson and Jimmy Carter come to mind. Which will it be for George W. Bush?

Here is CNN's Garrick Utley.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARRICK UTLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Amid the trauma and the tragedy, it was George W. Bush's most eloquent moment, because it was so natural.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I can hear you.

UTLEY: And yet, there was an earlier George Bush that Americans heard, not that long ago. Remember the primaries in 1999, when candidate Bush was asked to name some world leaders? He didn't know the name of the new leader of Pakistan, but knew there was one.

BUSH: The new Pakistani general has just been elected, not elected, he just kind of took over office.

UTLEY: Today, President Bush knows a lot more about General Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan and why his country is critically important to the United States. If the world can change so suddenly, can a person a president change too?

(on camera): It's called rising to the challenge or facing a test of character. For most of us when that moment comes we face it alone or with the support of family and friends. But when a president faces that challenge, that test, the whole world watches. How's he doing?

(voice-over): When Bush won his party's nomination, there were questions about his experience and his interest in the world beyond America's borders. And there were questions about how he would face crisis.

BUSH: You know, as governor, one of the things have you to deal with is catastrophe. I can remember the fires that swept Parker County, Texas. I remember the floods that swept our state. I remember going down to Del Rio, Texas. UTLEY: But when George Bush took office, there was no sign of catastrophe, or threats to American peace or prosperity, and some would say, complacency. After all, who was Osama bin Laden other than a vague name and a distant menace. So on that morning of September 11 as the president and commander-in-chief flew his round-about path back to Washington, he knew, as we knew, that moment of challenge and testing arrived.

Would his words resonate like those of a previous president?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: A date which will live in infamy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

UTLEY: Bush's address from the Oval Office was direct if not stirring.

BUSH: Terrorist attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of America.

UTLEY: The president was searching for words, a language to match the moments. There was this.

BUSH: We will smoke them out of their holes.

UTLEY: And this:

BUSH: There's an old poster out west, as I recall, that said "Wanted, dead or alive."

UTLEY: Those first quotes were from the gut. But a president must also lead from the head.

By the time he entered Congress for the big speech, aides and acquaintances said he was a changed man. The 54-year-old man often seemed content to glide through life suddenly had focus and purpose. He also had a great scripted speech.

BUSH: Our grief has turned to anger and anger to resolution. Whether we bring our enemies to justice or bring justice to our enemies, justice will be done.

UTLEY (on camera): It's been said that some people are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them. Wars and crisis tend to do that. Will George Bush be a great president? We can't tell yet.

(voice-over): Can't tell yet because greatness in history usually goes to the victors. And in this young new war it's not yet clear what victory is.

BUSH: We will win this conflict by the patient accumulation of successes. UTLEY: Americans are merely at the beginning of this challenge and this test of patience, and so is their president.

Garrick Utley, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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