Washington Examiner
· collected 2026-09-09 · by Brady Knox and Joseph Nepomuceno
Story summary
September 11, 2001 is being remembered as the anniversary of the terrorist attacks that changed the world and people's lives 25 years ago. For Colin McShane, who was just 4½ years old at the time, his father's death on 9/11 is a significant event in his life. His father was a firefighter who had joined the FDNY for only 18 months, but had plans to continue serving.
In Canada, Sue Riccardelli and her wife Maureen Murray have been honoring the people of central Newfoundland who took care of them and over 6,500 other passengers after 38 planes were grounded in Gander, N.L. They are now returning to Gander for the anniversary and plan to bring their flag as a message of love and solidarity.
New Yorkers who worked at Windows on the World, the restaurant on the 107th floor of the North Tower, still carry memories of that day. One employee, Paulo Villela, immigrated from Brazil just to work there for its benefits, but lost his life in the attacks.
In recent years, many Americans have been scapegoating Muslims and eroding civil liberties through policies like warrantless wiretaps and racist deportation campaigns. This phenomenon of Islamophobia continues to play a major role in politics today.
9/11 responders, including Mia Farina, are still getting sick from their work at ground zero, despite promises of care through the World Trade Center Health Program. Many have died from complications related to their service on that day.
In addition to remembering those who lost their lives, it's also important for parents to share this historical event with their children and teach them about the impact of 9/11 on American society.
Written for “The Aftermath of 9/11” on 2026-09-09,
grounded in this article and the 44 other(s) covering the same event.
The worst terrorist attack in U.S. history represented one of its greatest leadership challenges, and the decisions made on that day still reverberate 25 years later.
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decisions → represent → day
President George W. Bush was elected in the contentious 2000 election largely on a domestic-focused platform.
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Bush → elect → platform
Several of the key figures in the administration remain well-known, for better or worse, while others have faded into relative obscurity.
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others → remain → obscurity
Unlike his father, President George H.W. Bush, who had served as President Ronald Reagan’s CIA director and took a special interest in foreign policy as president, the younger Bush campaigned on domestic issues and saw himself as the figurehead of “compassionate conservatism.”
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Bush → serve → conservatism
However, the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks threw his plans for his presidency into disarray.
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attacks → throw → disarray
Bush’s approval rating skyrocketed to 90% in late September 2001, as the country rallied around its leader as he visited the site of Ground Zero in New York City and announced the beginning of the Global War on Terror.
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he → skyrocket → Terror
American troops entered Afghanistan to hunt down al Qaida terrorist cells in the country by October of that year, and Bush further escalated the GWOT by accusing Saddam Hussein’s Iraq of possessing weapons of mass destruction.
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Bush → enter → destruction
Though the Iraq War proved to be one of the most controversial parts of Bush’s presidency, the U.S. invasion boosted his approval rating from 57% to 71% in March 2003.
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invasion → prove → March
The subsequent years of an escalating insurgency, increased U.S. troop deployments and casualties, and the Great Recession led his approval rating to crumble to only 28% in November 2008.
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years → escalate → November
After President Barack Obama took office, Bush recused himself from the political stage like many of his predecessors.
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Bush → take → predecessors
While Bush publicly disagreed with Obama’s decision to withdraw troops from Iraq in 2011, calling it a “strategic blunder,” Bush also told late-night host Jay Leno, “I don’t think it’s good for the country to have a former president criticize his successor.”
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president → disagree → successor
The former president campaigned for his brother Jeb Bush as he battled for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016, and later refused to endorse President Donald Trump’s campaign.
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he → campaign → campaign
Bush again did not endorse any presidential candidates in 2020, but held a virtual fundraiser for Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Thom Tillis (R-NC).
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Bush → endorse → Collins
The former president condemned the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot and the attempted assassination of Trump in 2024.
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president → condemn → 2024
Bush also took up painting as a hobby after leaving the presidency, inspired by reading Winston Churchill’s essay “Painting as a Pastime.”
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Bush → take → Pastime
Arguably the most well-known figure in the Bush administration outside the president himself, Vice President Dick Cheney had decades of experience under his belt by the time of 9/11, but had not yet generated the controversy that dogged him post-Bush administration.
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that → know → administration
He served in the House from 1979–1989, then as secretary of defense under George H.W. Bush.
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He → serve → Bush
He was chosen as George W. Bush’s running mate in part to boost the president’s national defense credentials.
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He → choose → credentials
Cheney’s experience in foreign affairs and defense helped turn him into one of the most powerful vice presidents in history, as Bush delegated much of the handling of the Global War on Terror to him.
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Bush → help → him
He was a leading figure in advocating for and leading the Iraq War, something that would lead to his widespread unpopularity by the time he left office.
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he → advocate → office
The vice president ended his term polling at around 13%, and largely stayed out of the public eye after.
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president → end → eye
Cheney was one of the worst-hit Republicans by the Trump revolution, quickly fading into irrelevance after 2016.
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Cheney → hit → 2016
He backed his daughter, Liz Cheney, who was trying to position herself as a leading anti-Trump Republican, in an effort that met disaster when she lost to her Trump-backed challenger in 2022 by over 33 points.
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she → back → points
Dick Cheney died on Nov. 3, 2025, at age 84, of complications from pneumonia and vascular disease.
Secretary of State Colin Powell
Powell was the subject of bipartisan respect at the time of 9/11, being the first black U.S. national security adviser under President Ronald Reagan, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under George H.W. Bush, and secretary of state under George W. Bush.
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Powell → die → Bush
He was the first Bush Cabinet official to accept their post, doing so before the president’s inauguration.
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He → accept → inauguration
He played a key role in shoring up U.S. alliances to pursue the GWOT.
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He → play → GWOT
Powell’s most controversial moment came when he claimed Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction in front of the United Nations Security Council in February 2003, an address he soon after admitted was filled with inaccuracies, and described it as a “blot” on his record.
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he → come → record
He soon was on the outs with Bush and was pushed to resign shortly after his reelection in 2004.
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He → push → 2004
As with several other Bush administration officials, Powell would distinguish himself as a major anti-Trump figure, even disavowing his Republican Party membership in 2021 after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
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Powell → distinguish → riot
He died on Oct. 18, 2021, at age 84 of complications related to COVID-19.
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He → die → COVID-19
Upon returning to the secretary of defense post under Bush after his service in the Ford administration, Rumsfeld held the unique distinction of being both the youngest and oldest man to serve in the position.
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Rumsfeld → return → position
Rumsfeld was praised as a heroic figure during the Sept. 11 attacks, as he was at his office in the Pentagon when one of the hijacked planes hit.
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one → praise → planes
The secretary of defense ran to the crash site and personally helped evacuate the wounded.
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secretary → run → wounded
His goodwill would run out in the years that followed, after he became the face of the administration’s defense of the Iraq War.
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he → run → War
He resigned in 2006 after sustained pressure from controversies surrounding the war, especially the Abu Ghraib prison torture scandal.
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He → resign → war
He died on June 29, 2021, at age 88 after battling a “long illness.”
National security adviser Condoleezza Rice
Rice, like Powell, set a number of civil rights-related records, including the first female national security adviser.
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Rice → die → adviser
Coming from an academic background specializing in Soviet and Russian affairs, she had previously served Bush’s father as a member of the National Security Council staff.
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she → come → staff
Rice would draw heavy scrutiny over the intelligence failures preceding 9/11, especially a now-famous Presidential Daily Briefing given just one month before the attacks in which she warned that Bin Laden was preparing to attack the United States.
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Laden → draw → States
She would draw even more controversy as a central advocate for the Iraq War.
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She → draw → War
When asked in September 2002 about evidence for Iraq possessing Weapons of Mass Destruction, “we don’t want the smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud.”
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gun → ask → Destruction
…and 41 more, not listed.
