A Google search on
"bush defining" yields approximately 355,000 hits. Here are a few highlights of the media pander:
"Bush's Defining Moment", Christianity Today, November 12, 2001
President Bush, from the day of the attacks on the World Trade Center, has led the nation with a deft spiritual presence that radiates solidarity with people of all faiths.
"Analysis: Bush's defining moment", BBC News, November 6, 2003
This speech may well turn out to be a defining moment in the presidency of George W Bush.
Its message was unmistakeable - that the countries of the Middle East must embrace democracy for the good of their peoples and the security of the world.
"Bush's Defining Moment Tonight", Newsmax.com, August 3, 2000
Amid the cheers and confetti tonight, George W. Bush will deliver one of the most important speeches of his campaign and political life. Aides say he'll use it to make his case for why change is needed in Washington.
Bush is expected to talk about Social Security, prescription drugs and Medicare, education, tax overhaul and the need for a strong military, according to his communications director, Karen Hughes.
"Bush's carrier landing: A defining moment in presidential politics", WorldNetDaily.com, May 5, 2003
Last Thursday, when the Navy S-3B Viking aircraft carrying President Bush stuck its landing on the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln, the tone of the next election campaign was set.
Defining Moment for Medicare - State of Union Address, SeniorJournal.com, January 27, 2003
Medicare is to be a significant theme of the annual State of the Union address that Bush delivers Tuesday night, and he will travel to Michigan the next day to promote the issue, which the White House regards as a central element of its domestic agenda this year.
Anyway, you get the idea. This president has had more "defining moments" than you can shake a stick at! 9/11 itself. The speech on the day after. Addressing the nation before invading Iraq. The carrier landing. The turkey delivery. Any of his various SotU Addresses. On and on and on.
One consistent theme runs throughout each of those "defining moments":
In hindsight, they appear really, really stupid!
Bush hid on 9/11. He hired fake firefighters for the speech. We didn't find any of the vaunted WMD. More troops have died in our occupation of Iraq than did during the war. The turkey was fake. All of his SotU-proprosed programs, and most especially medicare, were sold on specious information.
With all that in mind, the defining moment of Bush's presidency is when we'll see him leaving the White House, never to return.