Jules Witcover: The doubts of a decisive president

One of President Bush?s strengths in the first six years of his presidency has been his ability to project decisiveness. He has dubbed himself “the decider,” a characterization that has bought him some derision. But until recently at least, there was not much doubt that, as Harry Truman once said, “the buck stops here,” at the Oval Office.

Now, however, that decisiveness seems in retreat, as the current occupant agonizes over how best to find the “new way forward” he has promised in Iraq. His earlier reputation for, and practice of, making quick decisions and sticking to them is awash in the prolonged quest for the answer, postponed into the new year.