PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN RICHARD NORTON SMITH IS DIRECTOR OF THE DOLE INSTITUTE OF POLITICS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS.

IN REVIEWING THE FIRST YEAR OF THE BUSH PRESIDENCY, SMITH SAYS MANY PEOPLE ARE ASKING THE WRONG QUESTION.
Smith: "The president's been asked over and over again, not surprisingly, 'Have you changed since Sept. 11?' Doesn't matter whether he's changed. What matters is that our view of him has changed. I have no idea what his poll numbers will be six months from now. But I'm confident that we will never again see him as we did before Sept. 11." (17 sec.)

THOUGH BUSH HAS BEEN IN OFFICE FOR SLIGHTLY MORE THAN A YEAR, SMITH SAYS A SECOND BUSH PRESIDENCY BEGAN LAST SEPTEMBER.
Smith: "In a sense, Sept. 11 was Bush's second inauguration. I'd go further and say it was the trip to New York that week. What people were waiting to hear was unscripted eloquence, passion that suited the moment. They got it when he went to Ground Zero." (14 sec.)

SMITH NOTES A PROFOUND CHANGE IN THE ATTITUDE OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE SINCE SEPTEMBER 11. FOR EXAMPLE, HE BELIEVES THE COUNTRY WILL NO LONGER TOLERATE POLITICS AS USUAL.
Smith: "If you look at the polls that all show that people think we are in a recession, and they all show that America is on the right track. That is unprecedented. And what it tells me is that we've risen above the kind of blame game. We're able to display a kind of maturity about what really matters, and we like what we've seen about ourselves since Sept. 11." (23 sec.)

SMITH SAYS IT'S IMPORTANT THAT POLITICIANS, REPUBLICANS AND DEMOCRATS ALIKE, UNDERSTAND THIS SHIFT IN ATTITUDE OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE.
Smith: "We've been changed in a number of ways. We expect our politicians to reflect that fact. We expect serious people to deal with serious issues in serious ways. If politics and politicians think otherwise, then I think they'll pay a price."(18 sec.)

SOME NEWS OUTLETS HAVE CRITICIZED BUSH'S PLAN TO ESTABLISH MILITARY TRIBUNALS TO TRY MEMBERS OF THE TALIBAN AND THE AL-QAEDA NETWORK CITING CONSTITUTIONAL CONCERNS. BUT SMITH CREDITS THE PRESIDENT FOR RE-ESTABLISHING A TRUST IN THE PRESIDENCY AND THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.
Smith: "The most successful presidents establish a trust which allows them to commit acts in wartime that might be impeachable offenses in peacetime. If your life is on the line who are you going to trust -- a president and an administration who so far have conducted a textbook military campaign, or the editorial page of the New York Times?" (20 sec.)

SMITH SAYS MANY NEWS PUNDITS HAVE CONSISTENTLY SECOND-GUESSED BUSH'S ABILITY TO CONDUCT THE WAR ON TERRORISM. SMITH BELIEVES THE AMERICAN PEOPLE HAVE ALSO BEEN UNDERESTIMATED.
Smith: "No sooner than the towers went down, it was widely predicted that Bush would have real trouble restraining the American people from demanding immediate military retaliation. And I remember on Thursday of that week in came the first polls, and said nothing of the sort. People from the very beginning demonstrated this extraordinary judgment and maturity and sophistication. They understood this was a different kind of war." (23 sec.)