President Bush – 9/11 Speeches
January 22, 2009
The intent of this entry is to document some of the key speeches from President George W. Bush that I recall from the days surrounding the 9/11 attacks. I went back and watched the speeches again to gain perspective on how everything started out 7.5 years ago. Perhaps this initiative was due to the transfer of power this week to Barack Obama. But, I wanted to review some of the key speeches again to relive the perspective from that time.
Obviously, as of January 09, this is still a red hot topic in our country and our world today. America has been at war for 7.5 years now. That is the 2nd longest period of war in the nation’s history after Vietnam. World War II was 3.5 years long (more or less).
I recall thinking in Sept 2001 that America would never be able to hold back the terrorist from striking again. I thought we were only seeing the beginning of a much longer campaign of terror on American soil. I think the feeling of vulnerability was the feeling of the day in Sept 2001.
We can now say the additional attacks never happened during the remainder of Bush’s presidency. The terrorist never got another foothold in this country to carry out a mass destruction initiative that we thought was once inevitable. I think George W. Bush will always go down as one of the most controversial presidents in US history. Time will tell how serious of a threat additional strikes were on American soil. We probably will never know for sure. But, I believe that is the one thing George W. Bush takes with him as he leaves office. He did not allow for any additional terrorist strikes on American soil.
History can argue the rest of his legacy regarding Iraq, Katrina, Afghanistan, climate change, torture, and the economy. But, the flashpoint incident in his presidency will always be 9/11.
Included below are some video clips of speeches from George W. Bush from 9/11 and the days following.
President Bush with firefighters at Ground Zero:
President Bush addressing the nation the night of 9/11:
President Bush addressing the Congress on 9/14:
