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The terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington is without precedent in American history. Yes, the British burned the White House in the War of 1812 and Japan attacked the Pacific fleet at Pearl Harbor, but both were acts of war by sovereign nations. The United States was able to inflict military defeats on the British and secure a treaty ending the conflict in l814; Japan paid a much heavier price when it was forced to surrender unconditionally in 1945 after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. There have been other times of severe national crisis from foreign causes. The Soviet launch of Sputnik, the earth’s first artificial satellite, shocked the American people in 1957 and led to national soul-searching. Eventually, the United States proved its mastery of space by landing a man on the moon. In 1979, a small group of Iranian militants seized the U.S. embassy in Teheran and held 58 American diplomats hostage for over a year. The nation’s failure to rescue its captured citizens led to a sense of national humiliation which doomed the presidency of Jimmy Carter. President George W. Bush faced an equally grave challenge with the attacks of September 11, 2001. The four hijacked airplanes that destroyed the World Trade Center, damaged the Pentagon, and crashed in Pennsylvania made many Americans afraid to fly or travel at all, hurting an already flagging economy. Anthrax tainted letters in several states added to the confusion and concern. The United States responded with military action against terrorist bases in Afghanistan and the Taliban regime that protected them, calling up tens of thousands of reserve troops in the process. Meanwhile, local, state, and federal authorities became increasingly vigilant in their investigations of the attacks and the anthrax letters as well as protecting against any future terrorist actions. Initially, the American people rallied behind President Bush, putting aside partisan quarrels and lingering questions from the controversial election of 2000. President Carter enjoyed the same patriotic response in the first months of the Iranian hostage crisis, but as then the public mood may well shift from unity to dissension, from resolve to frustration. The September 11 assault will undoubtedly become the measure for judging the success or failure of the Bush presidency. Some presidents, notably Abraham Lincoln and Franklin D. Roosevelt, achieved greatness by overcoming challenges like the Civil War and World War II. Others, such as Herbert Hoover and Jimmy Carter, found themselves overwhelmed by events like the Great Depression and the Iranian hostage crisis and were voted out of office after just one term. Still others, such as Calvin Coolidge and Bill Clinton, enjoyed the benefits of prosperity to gain contemporary popularity but failed to leave their mark on history due to the absence of a great challenge. Far more than the eventual status of Bush as president is at stake in the terrorist crisis. The American people were once again tested, as they were during the American Revolution, the Civil War, the Great Depression, World War II, and the Cold War. The remarkable display of patriotism and the submergence of partisan wrangling in Washington offers hope that they will continue to stand united against a difficult and unseen enemy, reining in the desire for a quick resolution and enduring sacrifices for a protracted effort to root out terrorism not just for their own safety, but to secure a more peaceful world for all peoples.
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