WASHINGTON, Oct. 16 (UPI) -- Since the Sept. 11 terrorist attack, President Bush has walked a trickier path than almost any president in modern times: making war, restoring economic confidence and keeping a nation of 275 million people alert but calm.
From the first incidence of anthrax, now nearly a month ago, however, the president and his administration has had even a trickier task, reassuring people that they are safe against a biological agent that they cannot see, cannot anticipate and may not learn about until it is too late.
All around him this week in Washington on the surface there have been signs of growing public anxiety. Fire engines roar about checking out reports of white powder, schools change programs, televisions and radios keep up a drumbeat of urgent reports.
Washington D.C. Fire Department Battalion Chief, M. Sellitto, said Tuesday that they have been run "all over the city" checking out reports of possible biological agents. He said that the overwhelming majority had proved to be innocuous and not even worth continued tests.
"People's alertness had been heightened," he said and that it was useful they were making these reports.
Yet, national polls suggest that concern is heightened in New York and Washington is less persuasive around the country.
A Washington Post/ABC News survey published Tuesday showed broad concern about the country, 65 percent said they were at least somewhat concerned about the reports that anthrax bacteria had been sent through the mail and slightly more than half feared that they, a family member or a personal friend could become a victim of anthrax.
But even after anthrax was mailed to the U.S. Capitol Monday, work attendance on Capitol Hill and other major government agencies had not been materially affected and the city seemed to be going forward.
The very things that the news media have criticized about the Bush administration have stood the president well in keeping the public calm. There has been rigid discipline among the federal agencies.
On anthrax, they have spoken with virtually one voice. There have been no leaks at the top level and no side comments of "White House" sources.
The White House selected Secretary of Health Tommy Thompson, the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta, Attorney General John Ashcroft and with him FBI Director Robert Mueller to give the details of attacks and government investigations. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld has answered some questions about military preparedness, but on the home front, the civilian agencies have led the way.
At the White House, only Bush, press secretary Ari Fleischer and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice are cleared for detailed comments. When the president leaves for Shanghai Wednesday to attend the Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation conference, there are no briefings on anthrax planned.
On Tuesday Fleischer chided the news media:
"It's worth noting that in the developments of this anthrax story I've seen a wide discrepancy in the media about how many people, for example, have been exposed. I've seen reports in the media that people were hospitalized when they never were. So it's a particularly important job for the federal government -- and I speak for the president and the agencies of government, to some degree -- to make certain that the information they have is considered and accurate before rushing to report it."
The president and Mrs. Bush have not noticeably altered their schedules. Laura Bush, for instance has made public appearances in Washington and Baltimore in the last several days even as it was confirmed Monday that a letter with anthrax powder was delivered to Senate Majority Leader Tom Dashle's office.
The president's decision not to abandon his trip China Wednesday was made in part to follow his own advice to the American people: go about your business cautiously, but go about your business.
"The president feels very strongly, as he said to the American people, that we have to go about the business of going about the business of doing what makes America strong."
The Washington Post/ABC News Poll shows the president that his efforts are paying off: seven in 10 Americans said they were confident that authorities could deal effectively with a large scale biological or chemical attack, and 85 percent said they were satisfied with the way the government was handling the situation.
