“Stripped of every winning Republican issue–the cold war, crime, the economy–he proceeded to run on Democratic ones–education, health care, Social Security. Lampooned as a feckless frat boy, he ran a more disciplined race than we have seen in years; he made his inexperience a virtue, his vagueness a shield, his sins a sign of sincerity.”
—From the December 25, 2000 issue of TIME magazine
“Whatever spirit of cooperation that survives in his second term may have to be found among his opponents; he has made it clear he’s not about to change his mind as he takes on Social Security and the tax code in pursuit of his ‘ownership society.’ So unfolds the strange and surprising and high-stakes decade of Bush.
For sharpening the debate until the choices bled, for reframing reality to match his design, for gambling his fortunes–and ours–on his faith in the power of leadership, George W. Bush is TIME’s 2004 Person of the Year.”
—From the December 19, 2004 issue of TIME magazine