There has been no talk of a "first 100 days" - that's usually a first-term conceit - but as the Bush White House gears up for its second term, there might as well be. The president is signaling just as ambitious an agenda as a typical first-time occupant of the Oval Office.

George W. Bush could have built a second term around finishing the Herculean tasks begun in his first, foremost among them defeating global terrorism and remaking the map of the Middle East by setting Iraq on a course toward stable democracy. Indeed, an important appeal to swing voters in last month's election was the plea to "let me finish the job."

But a convergence of factors has set President Bush down an equally grand path on the domestic front, with emphasis on early action: his predilection for bold initiatives; the seepage of power that accelerates as a second-term (read: lame-duck) presidency proceeds; and a sense born of 9/11 that a momentous event - such as another terror attack on US soil or even a protracted battle over a Supreme Court vacancy - could sidetrack his whole agenda.

Not only has Bush made reforming Social Security - once considered politically suicidal - the first priority of his second term, he is also contemplating wholesale reform of the tax code. Add to that more tax cuts, an extension of the No Child Left Behind education reform, lawsuit reform, and a comprehensive energy plan. He also says he intends to halve the budget deficit in five years.

"Bush has the most aggressive second-term agenda" in modern history, says Dan Mitchell of the Heritage Foundation.

President Reagan pushed through tax reform in 1986, well into his second term, but by promising to push both tax reform and a major shift in approach to Social Security - the introduction of private accounts - Bush is saying, "Well, I'll see you and raise you," says Mr. Mitchell.

Modern political history is littered with second terms gone awry, marred by scandal: Look no further than Watergate (Nixon), Iran-contra (Reagan), and Monica Lewinsky (Clinton). But the Bush team will hear none of that. The president is aiming far higher than merely avoiding the taint of all-consuming scandal after Jan. 20, 2005.

Bush is also turning the arc of the modern presidency on its head: Usually, presidents focus first on domestic issues, then, if they win a second term, turn to foreign policy, where Congress tends to give them freer rein. In addition to tax reform, Reagan's second term was noteworthy for diplomacy with the Soviet Union as the cold war wound down.

But the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, jolted Bush into a heavy agenda of foreign policy and homeland security, pushing Social Security off the radar screen. Still, his administration did show that it can walk and chew gum at the same time, accomplishing the unprecedented maneuver of cutting taxes during wartime. Now, with slightly larger Republican majorities in both houses of Congress set to take their seats in January - and a spike in his job approval ratings, following his reelection a month ago - Bush has an extra kick of confidence in his voice.

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