The printed letter from Dupuy De Lomé, the Spanish prime minister to the United States, cast a disparaging portrait of President William McKinley, which did not sit well with the American public. De Lomé was quickly recalled to Spain and some attempt at an apology was made, while relations between the two nations deteriorated. A fortnight later, on February 15, 1898, the uncertainty of the two nation’s relations became explosively apparent with the destruction of the American battleship Maine in Havana Harbor, resulting in the death of 260 American sailors. Public outcry with the slogan, “Remember the Maine, to Hell with Spain,” ostensibly forced McKinley’s hands to take more aggressive action, resulting in the Spanish-American War. Future 26th President of the United States Theodore Roosevelt’s charge up San Juan Hill was a historic reminder of that conflict.[i]
Forty years later, Japan attacked the U.S. Naval Base in Hawaii and the nation’s rallying cry — a call to arms and action — was “Remember Pearl Harbor.” President Franklin D. Roosevelt put the nation’s anger and outrage into words, characterizing the Pearl Harbor attack as a “date which will live in infamy.” Once again, America rallied to the cause and the fight. The day after Pearl Harbor and the President’s speech, America was, once again, at war. Years of sacrifice by Americans propelled the nation to victory over the Axis powers. The arsenal of democracy was born and America began its ascent to global superpower status.[ii]
The nation’s then-deep and seemingly impassable political divide — stemming from disputes from Roosevelt’s New Deal policies to America’s role, if any, in the expanding world conflict— nearly evaporated after the Pearl Harbor attack. The Cedar Rapids Gazette probably echoed sentiments commonplace in households across the nation, reminding Americans that before Pearl Harbor “there were interventionists and isolationists, republicans and democrats, new dealers and anti-new dealers. Today there are only Americans.” The days of partisan politics and squabbles were in the past. “Unity,” as the Gazette emphasized, “is our national need.” The Mason City Globe-Gazette highlighted “All that America holds dear is at stake, our heritage of freedom, our glorification of man over state, our religion centering about the Golden Rule.” A few years later, in the summer of 1945, the allies achieved a lasting and sustainable victory with America emergent at the head of the free world. [iii]
The shadows of World War II had barely moved before the world was involved in another dominating conflict, the Cold War. A growing divide quickly emerged between free, capitalist nations and the socialist-communist bloc, led by the Soviet Union. Conflicts in Korea, Vietnam, and a tense standoff with Russian missiles on the small island nation of Cuba highlighted stark political and ideological differences. Words such as “Détente” and “Containment Theory” became well-known, a vocabulary deemed critical to advancing U.S. Foreign Policy. Then, with the election of President Ronald Reagan in 1980, the U.S. shifted from a mere balance of power mindset to one of complete victory.
The fall of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s ostensibly declared to the world freedom for all was at hand, a positive outlook for the world that had been handcuffed in conflict for much of the 20th Century. Brighter and more peaceful days appeared to be on the horizon. The quick and strikingly easy U.S.-led coalition victory over Iraq in the 1991 Gulf War did not diminish the hopes that peace across the world was the flavor of the decade now that the Soviet empire was no more.
However, one man took notice of events around the world, sensing, perhaps, an opportunity, wrapped around his own religious and ideological thinking. This man was Usama Bin Laden. The ever-growing presence of American military personnel in Saudi Arabia following the Gulf War only fueled Bin Laden’s hatred and contempt for everything that was the West. Writing an edict in 1998, Bin Laden wrote about the occupation of Arab lands, the deaths of Muslims in the region, and that these offenses amounted to “a clear declaration of war on God, his messenger, and Muslims.” Bin Laden closed with a fatwah against America:
The ruling to kill the Americans and their allies—civilians and military—is an individual duty for every Muslim who can do it in any country in which it is possible to do it, in order to liberate the Al-Aqsa Mosque [in Jerusalem] and the holy mosque [the Haram Mosque in Mecca] from their grip, and in order for their armies to move out of all the lands of Islam, defeated and unable to threaten any Muslim.
For Usama Bin Laden, war had been declared and the plans that would ultimately result in 9/11 began to grow.[iv]
As a young major assigned to the 519th Military Police Battalion at sunny Fort Polk, Louisiana, that Tuesday was like any other day. The morning’s routine physical fitness session was over. I was relaxing in my living room, catching the latest scores on ESPN, when my wife abruptly shouted from the upstairs bedroom that a plane had struck one of the World Trade Center. Like so many Americans who watched that morning, I considered the first strike against the towers a tragic mistake — a pilot error, perhaps. Then, as we watched with growing concern, we saw the second plane hit the South Tower. Without saying a word, we both knew this was no accident; this was deliberate. I quickly dressed and rushed into work, arriving just in time as a third plane struck the Pentagon. Whether it was declared or not, America was at war. Three months later, I was processing detainees in Kandahar, Afghanistan. As declared by President Bush on the rubble that was once the standing towers, the search for Bin Laden and his associates became America’s primary mission. Like the “Shot Heard Round the World” at Lexington and Concord during our early beginnings, Lincoln’s mighty Second Inaugural Address, or the heartening and unifying slogans of “Remember the Maine” or “Remember Pearl Harbor,” Americans’ emblazoned past glories and times of unity manifested themselves in a similar phrase — “Remember 9/11!”
Members of Congress singing "God Bless America."
Eerily similar to today’s hostile political and cultural climate, twenty years ago the nation was still coming to terms with an election, the election between George W. Bush and Al Gore. One author, Gertrude Himmelfarb, published a book appropriately titled, One Nation, Two Cultures. The title remains fitting today in 2021 — one nation and two cultures and, feasibly, even more. Sitting at an approval rating hovering just over 50% before September 11, 2001, President Bush’s job approval rating shot up to an astonishing 90%. After 9/11, for a period, political and cultural differences seemed to take a back seat. “Both sides,” Himmelfarb wrote, “think themselves as extremely patriotic. And at a time like this, patriotism overrides other considerations.” Harkening back to images of the Revolutionary War or World War II, Lionel Waxman for the Inside Tucson Business spoke of Americans across the nation running to the sound of the guns to fight for, or at least assist their fellow Americans. Race or ethnic differences mattered little. As Waxman concluded, “They are just Americans doing what Americans have always done when needed.” Americans rallied around each other, the flag, and their wounded nation.[v]
Gallup polls
for this period, both immediately before and after September 11, 2001,
reflected a surge in patriotism, church attendance, and support for the Federal
government; however, almost shockingly, those percentages quickly receded to
pre-9/11 numbers. In a September 2003 article for the Gallup, Jeffrey M.
Jones drew attention to these abrupt changes. He underscored how President Bush
enjoyed strong support a month after the attacks. Yet, by September 2002, those
percentages had fallen 20 percentage points and almost to pre-9/11 numbers by August
2003.
George W. Bush Approval Ratings
|
Pre-9/11: Sep 2001 |
Post-9/11: Oct 2001 |
First Anniv: Sep 2002 |
Most Recent: Aug 2003 |
|
|
Percentage
Approving |
51% |
89 |
66 |
59 |
Congressional ratings paralleled President Bush’s, obtaining a remarkable high of 84% approval in October 2001 and then quickly back down to 45% in August 2003.
Congressional Job Approval Ratings
|
Pre-9/11: Sep 2001 |
Post-9/11: Oct 2001 |
First Anniv: Sep 2002 |
Most Recent: Aug 2003 |
|
|
Percentage
Approving |
42% |
84 |
52 |
45 |
Likewise, nearly 70% of Americans agreed with the way policies were being executed after the attacks; however, those percentages almost matched pre-9/11 percentages at 46% by August 2003. There was a slight increase in church attendance following the attacks, up six points from 41% before September 11. A year and a half later even that percentage had dipped to 38%. Jones concluded, “While those events did not dramatically transform the way Americans go about their daily lives, the fact that certain attitudes and behaviors have yet to return to their pre-9/11 levels two years later illustrates that the terrorist attacks still affect Americans today.”[vi]
Signs of patriotism after September 11, 2001.
Recent events in Afghanistan afford an opportunity to pause and reflect on those American men and women who served in that country, many of whom did not make it back to our shores – not to mention the resources and financial cost. Was it worth it? Was it all in vain, with ostensibly no purpose or goal achieved? Having served in Kandahar and Kabul, I would argue that, at least for 20 years, a hope and optimism for a better future was spread around Afghanistan, including a sense of security against future terrorist attacks perpetrated against the U.S. or other nations around the world. I am reminded of what President Kennedy said about the South Vietnamese people, essentially declaring that, in the end, it is their country, their future. We, the United States, could provide some of the needed equipment and resources, but they had to want it — demonstrating a clear willingness to fight and sacrifice for the betterment of their own people. There seems little question Americans grew tired of the War in Afghanistan — the seemingly endless deployments — and were receptive to finally ending it and bringing the men and women of our military home. That said, the way the exit was executed is concerning, leaving open, perhaps, a range of complex problems that may haunt us again in the future.As the twentieth anniversary of September 11, 2001 approaches, Americans should not forget how we came together as a nation following those attacks. Let that memory serve as a reminder Americans can come together and forge victory even after the most trying of times. We can either fight these battles together or we can return to our divided tribal corners, creating rifts across the country and fracturing any unity forged during difficult times. As Gertrude Himmelfarb warned in her book after the 2000 election, “We may see the differences reassert themselves.” May they not. On September 11, 2021, let us reflect on a time when the people of this land came together through the darkness. Let us not forget.[vii]
Notes
[i] “Remember the Maine” USHistor.Org. 44c. accessed August 6, 2021.
[ii] “A date which will live
in infamy: The first typed draft of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s war address.” National
Archives at 'A Date Which
Will Live in Infamy' | National Archives. Accessed August 6, 2021.
[iii] Peterson, William J.
“Remember Pearl Harbor.” The Palimpest, Volume 23, No. 2, February 1,
1942, 36, 42-43.
[iv] Porter, J.M.B. “Osama
Bin-Laden, Jihad, and the Sources of International Terrorism.” Ind. Int’L,
& Comp. L. Rev. Volume 13, No. 3, 2003, 881-883.
[v] Waxman, Lionel, “Whatever
happened to patriotism?” Inside Tucson Business, September 24-30, 2001.
Page 5.
[vi] Jones, Jeffrey M. “Sept. 11 Effects, Though Largely Faded, Persist.” Gallup. September 9, 2003. Sept. 11 Effects, Though Largely Faded, Persist (gallup.com). Accessed August 18, 2021.
[vii]
Waxman, “Whatever happened to patriotism?”, Page 6.
