A Certain Trumpet

PRESIDENT BUSH’S second inaugural address, whatever else you think of it, was interesting. We are debating what it meant, and we will be debating the questions it raised for some time. President Clinton’s second inaugural address, in contrast, was forgotten as soon as it was delivered. The most memorable line of that speech held that “nothing big ever came from being small.” That comment itself was evidence of smallness-whether of the man or the times or both, I will leave for others to decide.

The president’s idealist critics, often liberals, fault Bush for hypocrisy. He spoke about promoting freedom around the world, they say, but he has acquiesced

About the Author

Ramesh Ponnuru

Ramesh Ponnuru is the editor of National Review, a columnist for the Washington Post, and a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

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PRESIDENT BUSH’S second inaugural address, whatever else you think of it, was interesting. We are debating what it meant, and we will be debating the questions it raised for some time. President Clinton’s second inaugural address, in contrast, was forgotten as soon as it was delivered. The most memorable line of that speech held that “nothing big ever came from being small.” That comment itself was evidence of smallness-whether of the man or the times or both, I will leave for others to decide.

The president’s idealist critics, often liberals, fault Bush for hypocrisy. He spoke about promoting freedom around the world, they say, but he has acquiesced