The President, facing a grief-stricken nation under attack, finds his voice and his mission
President Bush, from the day of the attacks on the World Trade Center, has led the nation with a deft spiritual presence that radiates solidarity with people of all faiths. "Bush's stature as a leader rose right before your very eyes," says Richard Cizik, vice president of the National Association of Evangelicals. The nation seemed to agree. A Newsweek poll taken a week after the WTC catastrophe found that 83 percent of Americans thought that the President appeared to be a strong leader. Bush administration aide Timothy Goeglein said he agrees with the widespread view that the terrorist catastrophe is "absolutely a spiritually defining moment for the country and its leader."After the September 11 attack, Bush displayed great skill at expressing his spiritual and moral convictions. His development as a political leader took enormous strides forward as he spoke at the National Cathedral, at Ground Zero of the collapsed World Trade Center, at the White House, at a joint session of Congress, and on national television.
As revealing as those public moments were, the President has been more open about his Christian convictions in private. Christianity Today interviewed several religious leaders who have visited with Bush since September 11.
A few hours before his address to Congress on September 20, President Bush met at the White House with a broad spectrum of religion leaders. Bush had asked Goeglein, deputy directory of White House public liaison, to organize a meeting of religious leaders before the speech. Goeglein and his staff started calling.
Twenty-seven leaders, including 13 evangelicals, attended. The group included evangelists Luis Palau and Franklin Graham, pastors Max Lucado, Bill Hybels, T.D. Jakes, and Charles Blake, ...
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