Big moment for Bush draws near
2005-01-20 08:06
Washington - With the United States capital blanketed by tight security and newly fallen snow, President George W Bush was to launch his second term on Thursday mindful of a legacy shaped by the war on terrorism and Iraq.
Bush was scheduled to take the oath of office in front of the US Capitol at noon in the 55th US presidential swearing-in and the first since the September 11 2001 attacks that transformed his time in office.
By midday on Wednesday, Bush had reached the 21st draft of his inaugural speech, which was expected to run 17 minutes and focus on broad second-term priorities like battling terrorism and spreading democracy.
"I see the fact that people want to be free, they long to be free, and that freedom is beginning to take hold. I'm going to talk about this in my inaugural address," the president said in an interview this week with Fox News.
'An amazing time'
Bush has frequently pointed to elections scheduled for January 30 in Iraq - where at least 20 people were killed when insurgents went on a bloody seven-car bomb rampage - as a hopeful sign for building a democracy there.
"This is an amazing time in the history of the world, and a nation with the influence we have should continue to help people realise their dreams and live in freedom," he told Fox.
On Wednesday, Bush sought inspiration during a visit to the US National Archives, viewing George Washington's 1789 handwritten inaugural address as well as the bible the first US president used for his oath.
He also mingled with some of the donors defraying the estimated $40m-price tag for the festivities and went to a ball where guests paired black tie and cowboy boots in a nod to the fashions of his adoptive home state of Texas.
Some of the most generous donors were rewarded with private dinners with Bush, vice-president Dick Cheney, or other leading administration officials the guests of honour.
In addition to spreading democracy in the Muslim world, the president has said he will seek to make his massive tax cuts permanent and attempt to overhaul the government-run Social Security retirement programme - despite widespread opposition that draws even from his own Republican party.
Bush said in another interview that the November 2 elections had ratified his decision to invade Iraq and topple Saddam Hussein, even though polls show that a large number of his supporters erroneously believe that US forces have found the weapons of mass destruction at the core of his case for war.