story519.xml
Title
story519.xml
Source
born-digital
Media Type
story
Date Entered
2002-05-06
911DA Story: Story
Changes
Following the events of September 11th 2002, I must make an attempt for myself to understand the changes that have taken place immediately during this presidency and in the White House. The first and most obvious, is that the security around the president, his closest advisors, and family has drastically increased. This is for no other reason than to protect the leader of our nation on his day to day engagements. Another drastic change that has occurred, is the president?s political agenda for the remainder of his term in office. There will be a more focused attempt to fight off terrorism than ever before in our nation and throughout the world. The public opinion of our nation has changed and in turn has directly impacted decisions made by the president. All of these are changes that I feel are consequential to our nation and the presidency.
The security around the presidency has changed immediately because of the threat of terrorist attacks on our nations highest leaders. Since the few days after the attacks, security around the White House, known as the ?18 acres,? has drastically tightened. Pedestrians are no longer allowed to walk within several blocks with out proper identification and credentials, movement within the building has been limited, including top advisors and workers and getting on Air Force One is now a hassle to anyone allowed on. To put it mildly, once the site of one?s dream job has become, to some, the danger zone.
The job itself of president has not changed since the attacks, but the focus has. President Bush didn?t have a strong platform for Foreign Policy during his election. The reason for that was because it wasn?t a current issue, but since 9-11 it has been one of the main intentions of the current presidency. One outcome of the attacks has been two new senior staff groups created by the president. They include the Homeland Security Council and the Domestic Consequences Group. These two groups focus on domestic security concerns and other economic worries. Without a shift in the importance of Foreign Policy our nation would be under severe threat and the public would be outraged.
The national government and political policy of our presidents for the past ten years has been heavily influenced by polls of public opinion. After the terrorist attacks the opinion of the public was in favor to retaliate or strike back. Whether these opinions were based on the act of revenge or the justification of never letting this happen again didn?t matter. Something had to be done, and if not, the public opinion would have most likely favored the act of overthrowing the government. Citizens would agree that everything this country worked for in the past two centuries would not be taken away from us. Thanks to public opinion the president can make decisions that the nations citizens favor more easily than before, and thanks to our Constitution that is what makes our government so special.
Overall, the focus of everyday policy for the president and his life changed overnight. Herein I have tried to explain the reasons for the changes that have taken place in order to understand the position that we face everyday since 9-11. I attempt now to realize that today the term President takes on a whole new meaning and respect. His important task of a promise to keep America engaged in the world has changed into a more immediate, pledge to locate evildoers wherever they may hide. For these reasons I am proud to say that I respect the life of the president and the everyday changes and events he faces for us as citizens.
Following the events of September 11th 2002, I must make an attempt for myself to understand the changes that have taken place immediately during this presidency and in the White House. The first and most obvious, is that the security around the president, his closest advisors, and family has drastically increased. This is for no other reason than to protect the leader of our nation on his day to day engagements. Another drastic change that has occurred, is the president?s political agenda for the remainder of his term in office. There will be a more focused attempt to fight off terrorism than ever before in our nation and throughout the world. The public opinion of our nation has changed and in turn has directly impacted decisions made by the president. All of these are changes that I feel are consequential to our nation and the presidency.
The security around the presidency has changed immediately because of the threat of terrorist attacks on our nations highest leaders. Since the few days after the attacks, security around the White House, known as the ?18 acres,? has drastically tightened. Pedestrians are no longer allowed to walk within several blocks with out proper identification and credentials, movement within the building has been limited, including top advisors and workers and getting on Air Force One is now a hassle to anyone allowed on. To put it mildly, once the site of one?s dream job has become, to some, the danger zone.
The job itself of president has not changed since the attacks, but the focus has. President Bush didn?t have a strong platform for Foreign Policy during his election. The reason for that was because it wasn?t a current issue, but since 9-11 it has been one of the main intentions of the current presidency. One outcome of the attacks has been two new senior staff groups created by the president. They include the Homeland Security Council and the Domestic Consequences Group. These two groups focus on domestic security concerns and other economic worries. Without a shift in the importance of Foreign Policy our nation would be under severe threat and the public would be outraged.
The national government and political policy of our presidents for the past ten years has been heavily influenced by polls of public opinion. After the terrorist attacks the opinion of the public was in favor to retaliate or strike back. Whether these opinions were based on the act of revenge or the justification of never letting this happen again didn?t matter. Something had to be done, and if not, the public opinion would have most likely favored the act of overthrowing the government. Citizens would agree that everything this country worked for in the past two centuries would not be taken away from us. Thanks to public opinion the president can make decisions that the nations citizens favor more easily than before, and thanks to our Constitution that is what makes our government so special.
Overall, the focus of everyday policy for the president and his life changed overnight. Herein I have tried to explain the reasons for the changes that have taken place in order to understand the position that we face everyday since 9-11. I attempt now to realize that today the term President takes on a whole new meaning and respect. His important task of a promise to keep America engaged in the world has changed into a more immediate, pledge to locate evildoers wherever they may hide. For these reasons I am proud to say that I respect the life of the president and the everyday changes and events he faces for us as citizens.
Collection
Citation
“story519.xml,” September 11 Digital Archive, accessed December 20, 2025, https://911digitalarchive.org/items/show/5913.