In 1957, President Eisenhower spoke at the dedication of the Islamic Center of Washington D.C., where President Bush spoke this morning for the second time in his presidency.

According to a booklet handed out by the mosque, the only American leaders to speak here since Mr. Eisenhower are Vice President Al Gore and Mr. Bush.

Mr. Eisenhower, speaking at the mosque's dedication on June 28, 1957, told his audience that "America would fight with her whole strength for your right to have here your own church and worship according to your own conscience."

"I am convinced that our common goals are both right and promising," Mr. Eisenhower said. "Faithful to the demands of justice and of brotherhood, each working according to the lights of his own conscience, our world must advance along the paths of peace."

In 1996, Mr. Gore, celebrating the Muslim new year, said that "America is an experiment to see whether people of different beliefs, religions, colors, and ethnic backgrounds can live together as neighbors. We have sought unity in diversity."

"The Islamic world has also sought unity in diversity," Mr. Gore said. "This great religion, practiced by a third of the world's population, has a great deal to teach all people. Among its lessons is the need for tolerance alongside faith."

Mr. Bush spoke at the mosque for the first time six days after the Sept. 11 attacks, and sought to reassure the American public that the ideas voiced by Mr. Eisenhower and Mr. Gore about the nature of Islam were true.

"These acts of violence against innocents violate the fundamental tenets of the Islamic faith," Mr. Bush said. "The face of terror is not the true faith of Islam. That's not what Islam is all about. Islam is peace. These terrorists don't represent peace. They represent evil and war."

Mr. Bush today challenged Muslim leaders to denounce acts of terrorism around the world committed in the name of Islam.

-- Jon Ward, White House correspondent, The Washington Times