WASHINGTON (AP) - Disaster has been both the making and the undoing of President Bush. Bush's bearing after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 - tough yet empathetic - felt right to the public. He rode that support to a second term, despite questions about the economy and the war in Iraq.
He was far less sure-footed when Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast. He stumbled through his initial appearances in the disaster zone, leaving the impression of a president who was distant from the immense suffering. His presidency - like the region - has never quite recovered from its faltering early reaction.
When tragedy strikes, presidents are expected to be national consoler - figures who affirm the grief even as they chart a path out of it. Sometimes it works; sometimes it doesn't.
President Bush's father, in the middle of a what became his losing re-election campaign in 1992, was slammed for his administration's lackluster response to Hurricane Andrew. By contrast, Bill Clinton rebuilt his embattled presidency partially on the strength of his commanding reaction to the Oklahoma City bombings.
http://apnews1.iwon.com/article/20070418/D8OJ0RV80.html