Bush Will Watch What He Says in Second Term

Showing Americans' Compassion for Muslim Tsunami Victims

The president and first lady also discussed the South Asian tsunami and the enormous humanitarian challenge it left in its wake. The tragedy has given Americans an opportunity to show the Muslim world their compassion, Bush said.

"Our public diplomacy efforts aren't very robust, aren't very good, compared to the public diplomacy efforts of those who would like to spread hatred and vilify the United States," he said.

Through America's outpouring of private and government contributions in response to the tsunami, which struck the world's most populous Muslim nation, Indonesia, hardest, Bush said, "Many in the Muslim world have seen a great compassion in the American people."

Through the presence of U.S. troops, aid organizations and money in the affected countries, "people are seeing the concrete actions of a compassionate country," he told Walters.

'It's a Miracle'

Bush's second-term inauguration will take place Jan. 20, just 10 days before Iraqis are set to vote in their first national elections since Saddam's overthrow. While the pending vote is fraught with danger, as insurgents continue to target U.S. troops and U.S.-trained Iraqi officers, Bush said he is committed to moving the political process forward in Iraq.

He said he had no timetable for the removal of U.S. troops, saying they need to stay to train more Iraqi troops. "We have to stay to train Iraqis so they can get rid of them. And I think that's how you solve this riddle," he said.

"It's a miracle they're voting, by the way, I think," he said. "What a spectacular three months when you think about it. Afghanistan had a vote. The Palestinians voted. And Iraqis will vote on the 30th, and right after that, we look forward to working the newly constituted assembly that will form a government."

Domestic Goals for Second Term

In the presidential campaign, pundits characterized the country as largely polarized between Republican and Democratic states and Bush was criticized by Kerry as having failed to unite Americans during his first term.

While the president said he doesn't feel Americans are as divided as the media suggest, he said, "I intend to work to unite the country. People go out and explain their positions. No candidate gets 100 percent of the vote. In modern history, most elections are very close."

Chief among his domestic policy goals, Bush said, will be a major overhaul of the Social Security system. Bush has said he wants to foster an "ownership society," giving Americans more responsibility for managing their health care and retirement investments.

To avoid anticipated shortfalls in Social Security funds, Bush proposes restructuring the system by basing it partly on private accounts. "I believe the dynamics have shifted on Social Security … I believe there's a lot of young people in this country that want to see leadership, because they're pretty sure they'll never see a dime unless the system is strengthened and modernized."

Saying the system will be in the red by 2018 and broke by 2040, Bush said his first task will be to "convince Congress that we have a problem."

The first lady has her own goals for the next term as well. She said she'll continue to focus on education and encouraging more young people to pursue careers in teaching.

But, she said she wants to work with adolescents -- particularly adolescent boys. "I feel like over the last several decades maybe we've neglected boys a little bit," she told Walters.

Noting that more boys drop out of school than girls and that more girls are pursuing college degrees, the first lady told Walters, "I just think it's time for Americans to sort of shift our gaze to boys and see what we can do to nurture boys and give boys the life skills that maybe we automatically teach to girls but that I think boys are left out of."

Laura Bush said she is grateful that she and the president will have another four years to serve the country and that she feels blessed to have the privilege of living in the White House.

President Bush is still working on the speech he'll deliver at his second inauguration, but he agreed to share his thoughts with Walters on what he hopes his legacy will be.

"I hope that 50 years from now people will look back and say, 'Thank goodness old George W. stuck to his beliefs that freedom is an agent for change to make the world more peaceful and that all people deserve to be free.'"