The Making of a President
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Being told of the attacks on the World Trade Center
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At Emma Booker Elementary School in Sarasota, Fla.,
President Bush watches video footage of the World Trade Tower attack.
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After departing Offutt Air Force Base,
President Bush calls Vice President Cheney from
Air Force One.
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I firmly believe when the history of this time is written,
it will be acknowledged
by friend and foe alike that President George W. Bush
came of age in that cathedral and lifted a nation off its knees.
It wasn't so much his words, though read a decade later,
they will indeed be as stirring as any.
" This conflict would end, he noted, ". . . at a time of our choosing."
It certainly wasn't his emotion. What had to have been one
of the most stunning exhibitions of self-control in presidential
history, George W was able to deliver his remarks without losing either
his resolve or his focus, or, more important, his confidence.
It was as if God's hand,
which had guided him through that sliver-thin election,
now rested fully on him.
In that brief time it took him to return to his seat,
I believe he heard words from within himself saying to the effect of,
"You can do this, George. I am with you always. And you can do this well,
because I am going before you. And don't worry about the weight.
I've got it."
And I saw in his eyes a quiet acknowledgment.
"I know. Thank you, Lord."
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After speaking at the service for
America's National Day of Prayer and Remembrance,
President Bush grasps the hand of his father,
former President George H.W. Bush.
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Meeting with his National Security Council in the Cabinet Room
the morning after the attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C.,
President Bush outlines the new course of his administration.
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"This is a conflict without battlefields or beachheads,
a conflict with opponents who believe they are invisible.
Yet, they are mistaken. They will be exposed,
and they will discover what others in the past have learned:
Those who make war against the United States
have chosen their own destruction. Victory against terrorism
will not take place in a single battle, but in a series
of decisive actions against terrorist organizations
and those who harbor and support them."
"We are planning a broad and sustained campaign
to secure our country and eradicate the evil of terrorism.
And we are determined to see this conflict through.
Americans of every faith and background are committed to this goal."
"In the past week, we have seen the American people
at their very best everywhere in America.
Citizens have come together to pray, to give blood,
to fly our country's flag. Americans are coming together
to share their grief and gain strength from one another.
Great tragedy has come to us, and we are meeting it
with the best that is in our country,
with courage and concern for others. Because this is America.
This is who we are. This is what our enemies hate and have attacked.
And this is why we will prevail."
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a Standing upon the ashes of the worst terrorist attack
on American soil Sept. 14,
President Bush pledges that the voices calling for
justice from across the country will be heard.
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aRallying around President Bush's visit to New York Sept. 14,
rescue workers cheer and chant, "U.S.A, U.S.A."
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a President Bush consoles a family during his trip to New York Sept. 14.
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After talking with Governor George Pataki and Mayor Rudolph Giuliani
in a televised telephone conversation,
President Bush addresses reporters in the Oval Office September 13.a
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Memorial Ceremony at the Pentagon
One month later...Oct. 11, 2001
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Mr. Bush is a different man than he was a month ago.
Inside and outside the White House, friends and advisers who once complained that the president had trouble getting his bearings when faced with a panoply of issues now assert that he is focused as never before.
"He appears different up close," said Senator Charles E. Schumer of New York, a Democrat who has found himself in a new, warm relationship with Mr. Bush. "He has a resolve, he has a confidence. He still has the same way of putting people at ease, but you can see that this is somebody who is in the process of rising to the occasion."
New York Times
