President Bush took the oath of office for a second term Thursday and laid out a historic mission meant to spread freedom and punish tyrannical governments throughout the world.
Emeritus political science professor Charles Jones said of the speech, \It was among the most dramatic inaugural addresses I've ever heard, and I've heard quite a few.""
""The survival of liberty in our land increasingly depends on the success of liberty in other lands,"" Bush said. ""The best hope for peace in our world is the expansion of freedom in all the world. America's vital interests and our deepest beliefs are now one.""
Stressing unity, Bush invoked ideals of justice, courage, tolerance and service as tools for bolstering American character during difficult times.
The president also appealed to young Americans to consider enlisting in the military or to find other ways of joining his mission. ""You have seen that life is fragile and evil is real and courage triumphs,' he said. ""Make the choice to serve in a cause larger than your wants, larger than yourself.'
""He really identified our responsibility in promoting freedom around the world,"" Jones said.
Sociology professor Donald Ferree discussed how the speech was defined by the post-Sept. 11 historical context.
""Bush's first inaugural took place in almost a different country, a country that didn't worry about people flying airplanes into towers,"" he said.
The new foreign policy architecture Bush articulated expanded on his first-term initiative to promote democracy in the Middle East, a vision that faces a key test in 10 days when Iraq is scheduled to hold elections for a new National Assembly. Without using the word Iraq, Bush asserted that he had touched off a spark in a region historically ruled by dictators and ""one day this untamed fire of freedom will reach the darkest corners of our world.'
Bush made only passing reference to the far-reaching domestic initiatives that have dominated the political dialogue in Washington since his re-election, such as restructuring Social Security, the tax code and immigration policy.
Ferree pointed out elements of the speech that echoed the language and themes of momentous inaugural addresses from the past.
Like Bush, Theodore Roosevelt tried to sketch out some very general, optimistic, and wide-reaching goals. Kennedy spoke of Americans paying any price and bearing any burden to spread freedom during the Cold War. In his first inauguration Reagan talked about a new way of looking at the world and a new set of goals for government, said Ferree.
In discussing Bush's call to eradicate racism and bigotry, Ferree said, ""That's a huge agenda, one that a lot of people will go along with, but it's also something that that will be very difficult to see what it will mean specifically.""
""It was a speech of big themes and not much in the way of specifics,"" Ferree said. ""It will be interesting to see how this whole thing plays out politically down the pike.""
President Bush was sworn into office today in front of a large crowd of supporters at the U.S. Capitol. Among those supporters were 12 members of the UW-Madison's College Republicans organization.
UW-Madison senior and former College Republican Chair Frank Harris commented the ceremony was ""very nicely done and was a great experience.""
After the ceremony, the group headed to the crowded streets of Washington, D.C., for the parade. Some members of the College Republicans did not get in because they arrived late. Those let in to the parade missed the opportunity to see President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney, but still had a great time, according to current College Republican Chair and UW-Madison senior Nicole Marklein.
Marklein described the parade's atmosphere as vibrant, positive and busy. Marklein and Harris both said protesters present at the event did not cause a disturbance.
""I was bracing myself for a lot of negativity, and I don't know if it's just that we weren't in a section where there was a lot of protesting, but I really didn't see that,"" Marklein said. ""I was surprised at what a positive, optimistic opportunity it was.""
After the parade, they headed toward the Patriot Ball, which is Ohio's inaugural ball. The group was not able to get into Wisconsin's ball, but was still excited.
""It should be really good because Ohio delivered to the president,"" Marklein said.
