George W Bush: the 9/11 Crisis

George W Bush: The 9/11 Crisis
George W Bush had a very big political background, so it wasn’t surprising when he ran for presidency and won. He was born on July 6, 1946, making him a member of the “baby boom” generation, born after WWII. He was the first born of Barbara Pierce Bush and George Herbert Walker Bush. They nicknamed him ‘Georgie’. He had 5 siblings; Pauline Robinson Bush, John Ellis Bush, Neil Mallon Bush, Marvin Pierce Bush and Dorothy Walker Bush. Although they were wealthy, George HW wanted an adventurous career. Therefore, they moved to West Texas where he accepted a job offer from his friend in an oil corporation. In 1950, the Bushes moved to Midland. There, they contributed so much to the community. Soon, George decided to go into the oil business for himself. Sometimes, he would take Georgie along with him to the old fields. In 1952, the Bush family moved again. Also in 1952, Grandfather Prescott Bush, back in Connecticut, ran for election to the US Senate. Although Texas was fiercely Democratic, George Bush organized a local Republican committee and campaigned enthusiastically for General Dwight “Ike” Eisenhower (Gormley 11).
Everything was so happy, until in March 1953, Robin was diagnosed with leukemia. For the next six months, Barbara took Robin to New York for the best treatment possible, while Georgie and Jeb stayed with family friends in Midland. In October, Georgie was told that Robin had died. The Bush family was extremely sad, but Georgie did his best to comfort his mom and dad. Eventually, the sad time became a part of the past. Later Georgie describes his childhood in Midland as “a happy blur,” “surrounded by love and friends and sports.” By the end of 1958, George’s oil business had shifted to Houston, on the Gulf of Mexico. This meant that the Bushes would have to move. In the spring of 1959, Mr. and Mrs. Bush left for Houston while the boys stayed behind to finish the school year. Since Georgie was the oldest, he helped out his mother a lot. She really appreciated his help because George was away so much because of his oil business (Gormley 14).
Georgie was very intense. His father had a definite influence on him. His parents wanted him to follow his father’s footsteps and attend Andover then Yale University. In the spring of 1961, Georgie had been accepted to Andover. Andover had been a shock to Georgie. It had high standards and strict discipline. In the classroom, there was fierce competition. Georgie was used to getting A’s in his classes in Midland without trying. However, Georgie was very worried about flunking out of his classes in the beginning of his first year at Andover. Adding the pressure to Georgie was the fact that his father was considered the ideal Andover student. But Georgie didn’t let anything destroy his bouncy spirits. He always got people to laugh (Gormley 33).
Back in Houston, George HW was making a move into politics. In March 1963, George HW was elected chairman of the Republican Party in Harris County, Texas (Gormley 35). George W. didn’t pay much attention to political issues. But he was used to hearing about the different personalities in Washington because of his grandfather. Grandfather Bush decided not to run for reelection in 1962, so there was no longer a Bush in national office. In September 1963, George HW announced that he would run for US Senate the following year. After George W graduated from Andover, he flew home to Houston to help his father campaign (Gormley 41).
In September 1964, George W left the campaign to start his freshmen year at Yale. There, just like Andover, he felt pressure to live up to his father’s achievements. He couldn’t match his father’s records, but he had his own unique talents. In the beginning of November, George W went back to Houston because he wanted to be with his father on Election Day. Unfortunately he lost. During the summer of 1965, George W went to work for a drilling company in Louisiana. He left a week early to spend time with his family and friends in Texas. His father said that he was disappointed in him and that was the worst punishment George W could ever receive. That summer, George HW was planning to run for the US House of Representatives in 1966. George W was not steeped in political matters like his father. Therefore, instead of getting involved in campus politics, George and his roommates pledged the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity. In the summer of 1966, George met a woman named Cathryn Wolfman. She was much more than a date to him. That fall, George W was elected president of the fraternity; even though most people thought that they weren’t important (Gormley 54) In November, he flew back to Houston for Election Day. This time, there was a happier outcome. Over Christmas Break in Houston, George asked Cathryn Wolfman to marry him. They were engaged on New Year’s Day, 1967. They planned to get married and live together during George’s last year at Yale. But they kept putting off their wedding plans. Eventually, Cathryn got married to someone else (Gormley 89).
Many students in George’s graduating class at Yale were determined not to go to Vietnam and they worried about how to get out of military service. However, George never tried to avoid military service. Since George liked the idea of learning to fly a fighter plane, he applied for the Texas Air National Guard. He was made a second lieutenant. He had gotten special treatment for being the son of an influential man. But everyone liked him anyway, and the other pilots respected him for the way he handled a plane. In December 1969, George W received his National Guard wings (Gormley 67).
In January 1970, George HW announced his entry into the race for senator. He had the backing of powerful Republicans including President Nixon. George W went along to some of his father’s campaigns. When it came to campaigning, he was serious and disciplined. Despite their effort, Gorge HW lost the election. However, in early 1971, President Nixon appointed him US ambassador to the United Nations. Soon, George W was now wondering if he should go into politics himself. He thought he might run for state senate of Texas in 1972, but his father thought it would better for him to join Red Blount’s campaign in Alabama. Winton “Red” Blount lost. At the end of 1972, George HW was now the chairman of the Republican National Committee (Gormley 75).
George W stayed out of politics for a while. He focused on his newly started oil company. In 1977, George W decided to run for US Representative. That August, he met Laura Welch at a friend’s dinner party. They got married in November. Laura supported him throughout his campaign. One night, he kept asking her how he did, and she said it wasn’t very good. He drove the car into the garage wall; he could take criticism from anyone but not his own wife (Gormley 92). In June 1978, George W won the primary race, but lost to his Democratic opponent in November. In spring 1979, George HW decided he wanted to run for president in 1980, but he lost the primaries to Ronald Reagan. Ronald asked George HW to be his vice president though, and they won (Gormley 95). In November 1971, Laura gave birth to two baby girls. In 1984, Ronald Reagan and George HW were up for reelection, and won again. In 1985, George HW started planning for running for president in 1988 (Gormley 100). In April 1987, George W moved to Washington and began working on getting his father reelected. In November 1988, on Election Day, Vice President George HW Bush won a firm victory (Gormley 106). In 1991, the Bush clan started to work on getting President Bush reelected in 1992. Unfortunately they lost. In 1993, George W announced that he would run for governor in 1994. He won. He was the first Republican governor of Texas since 1877 (Gormley 126). In 1997, George W began quietly planning a presidential campaign for 2000. In 1998, he was reelected for governor. The 2000 campaign for presidency was very close, but George W won. On January 20, 2001, George W. Bush was inaugurated as the forty-third president of the United States (Gormley 160). On September 11, 2001, disaster struck. The United States was under attack. Four planes were hijacked. Plane 1 was the American Airline Flight 11. Five terrorists were on board. The flight departed from Boston and was supposed to land in Los Angeles. At 7:59, it took off from the Logan Airport in Boston. At 8:14, it made its last routine communication with the ground. That is when it was most likely hijacked. At 8:46, it had crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center. At 10:28, one hour and forty two minutes after Flight 11 crashed into it, the North Tower collapsed (Jacobson 20-21).
Plane 2 was the United Airlines Flight 175. Five terrorists were on board this flight too. It also departed from Boston and was supposed to land in Los Angeles. It took off from the Logan Airport at 8:14. At 8:42, it has its last communication with the ground. The hijackers struck somewhere between 8:42 and 8:46. At 9:03, it had crashed into the South Tower of the World Trade Center. At 9:59, fifty six minutes after Flight 175 crashed into it, the North Tower collapsed (Jacobson 20-21).
Plane 3 was the American Airlines Flight 77. This flight had five terrorists on board too. It departed from Washington’s Dulles and was supposed to land in Las Angeles. It took off from the airport at 8:20. It had its last communication with the ground at 8:51. The hijacking occurred somewhere between 8:51 and 8:54. At 9:37, it crashed into the Pentagon (Jacobson 20-21).
Plane 4 was the United Airlines Flight 93. This flight, unlike the other three, only had four terrorists on board. It departed from Newark and was supposed to land in San Francisco. At 8:42 it took off from the Newark airport. At 9:28 the hijacking occurred. The passengers of this flight decided to take action at 9:57. At 10:02, the plane crashed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania (Jacobson 20-21).
George W Bush was in a Sarasota, Florida second-grade classroom when he found out the news. Andy Card, the chief of staff, told him the devastating news. President Bush knew that he had to remain calm because many second graders and news reporters were watching his reactions. The main thing he tried to do was to gather facts so they knew what was going on. Eventually, they focused on who did it and to seek justice. While watching it on the news, there were a couple of times when he just wanted to be alone t make sure that his thoughts were clear. He prayed for the country and was determined to lead it through the bad time. He had to make his first two statements on this crisis on the fly. He wanted to speak from the Oval Office, but it was the best he could so under the given circumstances. He learned that he was capable of dealing with the crisis. When he looks back on it, he doesn’t feel a sense of being overwhelmed. He said that he used tools that he thought were necessary and he worked with the Congress to codify them, so future presidents would be able to use them. He doesn’t regret any f the decisions he made. He says that his policies were necessary in order to protect the country.
The 9/11 crisis dominated George W Bush’s first presidential term. In response to the terrorist attacks, the United States attempted to overthrow the Taliban government by invading Afghanistan. The Taliban government was suspected of hiding Osama Bin Laden, the leader of Al-Qaeda, which was the organization responsible of the attacks. Even though the Taliban regime was quickly overtaken, Bin Laden was not captured. After 9/11 Bush’s goal was to protect the United States from future terrorist attacks. That’s why he signed the Patriot Act into law and created the Cabinet-level Department of Homeland Security.
Condoleezza Rice, the National Security Adviser during that time, says that "President Bush led in really, really difficult times. He kept us safe. He led with honor and integrity. I think the American people are seeing that and history will judge him on that" (Beaumont). George W Bush will be remembered for his responses to 9/11 in Afghanistan and Iraq, but since neither of those conflicts has yet ended in victory or defeat, it is far too early categorically to assume - as left-wingers, anti-war campaigners and almost all media commentators already do - that his historical reputation will be permanently down in the doldrums next to poor old Warren Harding's (Roberts).

Works Cited
Beaumont, Peter. "Republicans Still Struggle with the Spectre of George W Bush." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 30 Aug. 2012. Web. 26 Dec. 2012. <http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/aug/30/republicans-struggle-spectre-george-w-bush>.
"George W. Bush." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 26 Dec. 2012. <http://www.history.com/topics/george-w-bush>.
Gormley, Beatrice. President George W. Bush: Our Forty-third President. New York: Aladdin Paperbacks, 2001. Print.
Jacobson, Sidney, Ernie Colón, Thomas H. Kean, and Lee Hamilton. The 9/11 Report: A Graphic Adaptation. New York: Hill and Wang, 2006. Print.
Roberts, Andrew. "History Will Say That We Misunderestimated George W Bush." N.p., 21 June 2008. Web. 26 Dec. 2012. <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/personal-view/3559731/History-will-say-that-we-misunderestimated-George-W-Bush.html>.
"USA TODAY." USATODAY.COM. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Dec. 2012. <http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/washington/story/2011-09-09/Bush-on-the-events-of-Sept-11-2001-and-their-aftermath/50328042/1>.