On the night of September 11 of 2001, a man looks into the camera with heavy eyes.  It's been a long and heart-breaking day not only for him but for millions of Americans.  That morning at 8:45 a hijacked passenger jet coming out of Boston crashes into the north tower of the World Trade Center and shortly after that another jet crashed into the south tower.  Also that morning a passenger jet known as Flight 77 crashes into the pentagon but Flight 93 crashes into a field of rural Pennsylvania thanks to some brave passengers.  At 8:45 it is not known how many are dead beneath the rubble.  It is not clear exactly who perpetrated this act of terror.   It is not clear where Flight 93 was headed.  It's not even clear if the attack is over.  The only thing the man looking into the camera knows is that his nation is hurting.  By analyzing his speeches on this night and the following months we can see the comfort Bush brought to the nation. However by also looking at the president's approval numbers at the end of his presidency we can see that his dedication to these speeches that will leave him as one of the worst presidents in the last century in the eyes of many Americans. 

Bush's address to the nation the night of 9/11 had a message of both mourning and vengeance with a powerful overtone of patriotism.  He begins his speech to the nation by detailing the events of the day and how it has effected the American people.  He uses the words "disbelief, terrible sadness, and a quiet, unyielding anger" (Bush) to describe the way that Americans were feeling at the time.  He doesn't allow the people to feel sorry for themselves very long however by quickly turning the tone to a tone of patriotism.  He states one of the most memorable quotes in recent American history by saying "These acts of mass murder were intended to frighten our nation into chaos and retreat. But they have failed; our country is strong.

A great people has been moved to defend a great nation. Terrorist attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of America. These acts shattered steel, but they cannot dent the steel of American resolve."(Bush).  Bush continues to build on the idea that theses awful attacks cannot hurt such a great nation.  He ends his address to the nation, however by implying that America will get her vengeance.  He states, "America has stood down enemies before, and we will do so this time. None of us will ever forget this day. Yet, we go forward to defend freedom and all that is good and just in our world."  He ends his speech giving the people a slight sense of security during such a perilous time.  As the weeks after 9/11 passed Bush would make several speeches of a similar nature.   On a pile of rubble and debris surrounded both first responders and journalists Bush promised the "people that knocked down these building will hear all of us soon" (Bush).   For the leader of the free world to be there amongst men searching through the rubble for people who were almost certainly dead is a moving sight for anyone.  You can almost see it change the morale of the men as they grow louder throughout the video and long cheers when Bush makes a strong point.   A few weeks after this speech Bush gives another one in front of congress.  This speech was much more official and in some ways perhaps the most powerful of the twenty-first century.   In the speech to congress on September 20, 2001; Bush continues with his themes of pain and grief but also of vengeance and justice.  It is this speech that will declare a war on terror that continues to last until this day.  This speech promises to never let another government host a terrorist regime and any government that does will be seen enemy of freedom and furthermore America.   He announces the beginning of a new department in the white house, the department of Homeland Security.   It is in this speech that Bush puts his stake in the ground and never waivers for the rest of his presidency.  Bush will do anything in his power to destroy and kill anyone he feels gives terrorism a chance to hurt America again.  This speech is where the Bush presidency and Legacy begins.   

Not too long after Bush's Speech to Congress on October 10th the first bombs began to fall over Afghanistan.  The bombs are focused on both Taliban government strongholds and Al Qaeda training camps that have mostly been abandoned.   Some unspecified time later in the month the first U.S. boots hit the ground in Afghanistan.  Two special force units enter the country to destroy an airfield and other Taliban installations.  For the next few weeks, Special Forces fights alongside with the northern alliance (a group opposing the Taliban) and makes several pushes against the Taliban.  That November the first American base in Afghanistan in established by the marines in an airstrip just southwest of Kandahar.  By the end of 2001, the War on terror has begun and the hunt for the most hated man in the world, Osama Bin Laden, is well under way.  Bush has one goal in mind, to seek and to destroy.  

In 2003, Bush's War on Terror is taking a new turn.  Afghanistan had become the focal point of the War on Terror post 9/11 but now Iraq is about to feel the might of the US military.  Bush calls Iraq the "central front of the war on terror" (PBS).  Iraq's leader Saddam Hussein has harbored key members of the Taliban and is believed to have committed genocide against his own people.  Bush also says that Hussein has weapons of mass destruction although those are never found.  The war in Iraq is a bloody and lengthy war just as Bush had promised in the speech to Congress outlying his plans for the War on Terror.   Even though Hussein was caught and eventually executed by his own government, the American people were already starting to lose the taste for vengeance.  The media coverage of fighting in places like Fallujah and The Kalengar valley were very disheartening for any American that saw them.  This feeling is something that would only continue as the war would continue.  

The war on Terror in Iraq would last until the end of Bush's presidency and three years into the Obama administration. The War on Terror still wages in Afghanistan.  After Bush's eight years in office, the American people had grown tired of the war against terror as the memory of 9/11 began to fade.  Bush left office with a final approval rating of twenty-two percent.  This is the lowest rating of any president ever and it is partly due to Bush's dedication to vengeance against terrorism.  However the American people's anger is beginning to yield.  

As the graph from the Pew Research Center above demonstrates, the people's approval rating for the military boots on the ground in Iraq steadily as the war goes on into the final months of the Bush presidency.    Another contributing factor for the low approval rating would be the economy of course however many people remember Bush the most for his work to help prevent terrorism.   In addition to the War on Terrorism, Bush introduced the Patriot Act.  The Patriot Act created a new division of the federal government, essentially.  Under the Patriot Act, the department of homeland security was formed and under that the TSA and NSA were created.  In relation to all this a poll from the Pew Research Center conducted in late February of 2008 found that 62% of Americans felt like Bush has a significant role in helping keep America safe from terrorism. 

              Despite how someone may personally feel about the forty-third president of the United States it is undeniable that he took the attacks of 9/11 and responded in a major way.  From that night when he addressed his citizens he had a plan.  In his address to Congress he promised a long and bloody war.   In the heat of the moment many Americans agreed with his views of vengeance.  However, the war on terrorism that would shape his presidency would also be the reason for its bitter end.  

