Second inaugural addresses since Abraham Lincoln’s have the reputation of falling short. FDR and Reagan gave decade-defining addresses to start their first term, but their follow-up speeches in 1936 and 1984 were quickly forgotten.

In the four years since George W. Bush gave his first inaugural address, the world has changed entirely. As with Lincoln’s second inaugural 140 years ago, our nation is at war. Great convulsions have reshaped underlying assumptions about our country and its role in the world.

With yesterday’s speech, President Bush aimed straight for the history books. The language was unadorned, the message clear: America is a liberator nation. We will fight terror by supporting freedom around the world. It is a radical extension of our traditional mission.

The seeds of this presidency’s purpose are evident in rereading George W. Bush’s first inaugural speech side-by-side with the second. In a text devoted largely to the importance of civility, and decreasing polarization and poverty during peacetime, some lines seem strikingly prescient: “If our country does not lead the cause of freedom, it will not be led … the enemies of liberty and our country should make no mistake: America remains engaged in the world by history and by choice, shaping a balance of power that favors freedom.”

This initially resolute and idealistic impulse was extended in the second address as a new statement of national purpose. “We are led, by events and common sense, to one conclusion: The survival of liberty in our land increasingly depends on the success of liberty in other lands. The best hope for peace in our world is the expansion of freedom in all the world … So it is the policy of the United States to seek and support the growth of democratic movements and institutions in every nation and culture, with the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world.”

The goal of ending tyranny in our world probably deserved better than the tailgate-style “whoo!” it received from the collective crowd. It implies a series of actions not only impacting the “Axis of Evil” but also nominal allies currently securing the shaky balance of power from China to Saudi Arabia. Analysts and, later, historians can argue whether this goal is unwisely utopian, but Mr. Bush set out his agenda without apology. “America will not pretend that jailed dissidents prefer their chains, or that women welcome humiliation and servitude or that any human being aspires to live at the mercy of bullies. … Democratic reformers facing repression, prison or exile can know: America sees you for who you are – the future leaders of your free country.”

In its plain-spoken focus and moral clarity, the speech offered a portrait of a president in full, with a style all his own – call it “Prairie Chapel Ranch Rhetoric,” after the president’s name for his home in Crawford, Texas. He does not pretend to possess the poetry and tragedy of Abraham Lincoln. Instead, he invokes the language of the plains, spare and unsentimental if occasionally inspiring, possessing an innate sense of right and wrong. Short words and sentences can express big ideas.

It is the perspective of the American West, where trust is earned and the world divided into neighbors and strangers, all under the unequivocal eyes of God. George W. Bush believes that a combination of confidence and faith can allow good to triumph over evil. His delivery reinforces his message. Comedian Dana Carvey once explained that his impression of the president’s father, George H. W. Bush, a on blend of John Wayne and Mister Rodgers. But George W. Bush’s world is a long way from Mr. Rodgers’ neighborhood; instead his drawl-and-stall speaking style is a cross between Gary Cooper’s “High Noon” swagger and the steely earnestness of Clint Eastwood.

Such an uncompromising vision has a flip side: there is no room for doubt under the stars by which George W. Bush sets his course. Even in this stately second inaugural address, critics were taken to task, saying, “Some, I know, have questioned the global appeal of liberty – though this time in history, four decades defined by the swiftest advance of freedom ever seen, is an odd time for doubt. Americans, of all people, should never be surprised by the power of our ideals.” The speech’s outward focus was appropriate to the larger responsibilities of our time, but it came at the expense of acknowledging the challenges we face here at home. Indeed, no inauguration speech since Kennedy’s spent less time discussing domestic affairs. The subject did not come up until 15 minutes into the crisp 22 minute address, and merited only three paragraphs out of 2,000 words. The vision of our unity of purpose abroad was welcome, but the need to heal existing domestic divisions – well expressed by CNN.com’s perhaps unintentionally funny headline, “National Split on Bush as Uniter or Divider” – went largely unremarked. Still, the vision of America as an ownership society, with Social Security reform its prime political symbol, served as a seamless extension of a worldview driven by the pursuit of self-determination. “By making every citizen an agent of his or her own destiny, we will give our fellow Americans greater freedom from want and fear and make our society more prosperous and just and equal.”

Even in these few hours after its delivery, it seems clear that President Bush more than succeeded in clearing the sophomore hurdle that has caused so many second inaugurals to fade this side of Abraham Lincoln. It was a triumphant and clarifying moment in what will undoubtedly be the storms of the next four years. George W. Bush eloquently presented a portrait of a man and a nation on a mission: “As hope kindles hope, millions more will find it. By our efforts, we have lit a fire as well – a fire in the minds of men. It warms those who feel its power, it burns those who fight its progress, and one day this untamed fire of freedom will reach the darkest corners.” It is a vision that can truly light the world.