What he "was handed" at the start of his presidency
Few presidents have had to deal with the horrific attacks on our own soil, and on our economy, as Bush did.
After the attacks of September 11, 2001:
"When I woke up on September 12, America was a different place. Commercial aircraft were grounded. Armed vehicles patrolled the streets of Washington........The New York Stock Exchange was closed. New York’s Twin Towers were gone. The focus of my presidency, which I had expected to be domestic policy, was now war..........
The psyche of the nation had been shaken. Families stocked up on gas masks and bottled water. Some fled cities for the countryside, fearing....
There is no textbook on how to steady a nation rattled by a faceless enemy.......I also drew strength from my faith and from history. I found solace in reading the Bible which Abraham Lincoln called “the best gift God has given to man.” The clash between freedom and tyranny, he said, was “an issue which can only be tried by war, and decided by victory.”.......
I set three goals for the days immediately following the attacks. First, keep the terrorists from striking again. Second, make clear to the country and the world that we had embarked on a new kind of war. Third, help the affected areas recover and make sure the terrorists did not succeed in shutting down our economy or dividing our society........"
from Decision Points, p. 140 by G. W. Bush
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