The instant analysis started as soon as President Bush finished his inaugural speech. “Ambitious,” “cocky,” “inspired,” “scary,” “eloquent,” “arrogant,” “grand” and “grandiose” all got their 15 seconds. I wouldn’t argue with any of them, for there was enough grist in the 21-minute address to grind it anyway you want.

But what struck me more than what Bush said was the fact that he was the one saying it. His talk about transforming the globe had a man-in-the-mirror quality to it. Only 10 years after entering the public arena after an unremarkable personal and business life, Bush now stands like some colossus atop the world.

Think of him as the straw that stirs the drink. You may not like its taste any more than the French do, but circumstances and his unique response have turned Bush into something more than just the president of the United States.

Leader of the Free World? Too small. Leader of the entire world? More. Perhaps the greatest liberator in history is what he’s aiming for. However you frame it, our president certainly doesn’t share his poppy’s disdain for “the vision thing.”

We’ve gotten so used to his being in our face that it’s shocking to remember how far and fast the 43rd president has come. And breathtaking to consider that, if his actions match his inaugural rhetoric, the world will be forever changed. A man who proclaims, “We are ready for the greatest achievements in the history of freedom” is not taking a live-and-let-live approach to the next four years.

History turns on small hinges, but somebody has to get it started. Bush has raised his hand.

Could this be the same George Bush who described his life with the quip, “When I was young and irresponsible, I was young and irresponsible”? Or the man who suddenly quit drinking in 1986 after waking up with a terrible hangover from celebrating his 40th birthday?

A frat boy whose success came mostly from white man’s affirmative action — his last name — Bush was better at hard partying than hard work. He had an M.B.A. from Harvard, but his co-owners in the Texas Rangers baseball franchise were never tempted to let him run the business.

First elected governor of Texas in 1994, he still wasn’t taken seriously as a national player. Even after he became president in 2000, his chief claim to history seemed to be that it took the Supreme Court to give him the job. And by only one vote.

His first inaugural speech now seems modest, especially compared with last week’s “look out world” zeal. Although there were references to liberty four years ago, they seemed obligatory. Addressing fears he would turn America inward — he was the butt of jokes for having rarely traveled outside the United States — he promised “a balance of power that favors freedom.” Nowadays, anyone advocating “balance of power” in the White House would get the boot.

Unlike the second inaugural, the first focused heavily on domestic divisions. “America at its best is compassionate,” he said then and promised, “We will work to build a single nation of justice and opportunity.”

The chief catalyst for this dramatic change was, of course, the horror of 9-11, what Bush last week called “a day of fire.” But to leave the explanation there ignores the distinct way Bush himself has changed. There were other options, ones other Presidents would have chosen.

Most notably, Bush’s faith seems more pronounced, even messianic. His warning to tyrants combined military threat with evangelizing tone. So did his vow that America “proclaims liberty throughout all the world and to all the inhabitants thereof.” He sounded like the high priest of the Church of America.

Because I’m uncertain about Bush’s real plans, I am also uneasy.

But mostly I am fascinated by the man at the center of the whirlwind. And hopeful for the country that has put the world’s fate in his hands.

— Michael Goodwin is a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist for the New York Daily News. His e-mail address is Mgoodwin@edit.nydailynews.com