I always find it fascinating that those on the right try to defend Pres. Bush's reaction to the events of September 11th. Now while no one can fully understand the pressures heaved on a president during a time of chaotic events, you can at least get some understanding through comparison. And since September 11th is often compared to the events of Pearl Harbor, I thought it would be interesting to compare Pres. Bush's actions of those events with FDR's during the bombing of Pearl Harbor.
Firstly, Franklin Roosevelt's.
In Washington D.C. it was early afternoon. President Roosevelt was having lunch with Harry Hopkins, his trusted friend and chief policy aide. The phone rang . It was Roosevelt's Secretary of War, Henry Stimson. Stimson told the President of the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor. Hopkins refused to believe the report. The President believed it.
The rest of the afternoon was spent receiving news of the attack, in bits and pieces, from the Navy Department. Other members of the President's advisory committee would eventually come to the Oval Office and be brought up to date regarding the events at Pearl Harbor. Grace Tully, the President's secretary would take down the information from the phone in shorthand as it was relayed by the Navy then transcribe it to her typewriter. The massive impact of what had happened slowly became apparent to all. Shortly after 5:00 P.M. the advisors, with the exception of Hopkins, left the Oval Office. Roosevelt requested that his secretary type a draft of the speech he had prepared for his war message to Congress. He spoke the words to her slowly and clearly.
The entire message delivered to a joint session of Congress on December 8th was short. It took the President less than six minutes to read. The opening phrase, "Yesterday, December 7,1941 - a date which will live in infamy -- The United States was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan." would later be regarded as the most famous phrase ever uttered by an American President.
http://my.execpc.com/~dschaaf/attack.htmlThe reaction of Roosevelt was swift. Even though the attacks happened nearly a world away, the President, his staff and other military officials, were essentially locked in the Oval Office all day, trying to get an understanding of the events that had just unfolded and whether more were planned. Not once, even though America was attacked by a country, did Roosevelt go into a hiding, nor was he whisked away by an airplane and then taken to some remote area for safety. Nope, he stood right there in the Oval Office with his staff and didn't blink in the face of adversity. And then, as the day came to a close, he asked his secretary to type his words, words that formed a speech which healed a nation and went down as one of the greatest speeches in American history.
Then there is President Bush. Who was informed, prior to entering a classroom, that a plane had hit a tower in New York. Upon receiving this news, Bush was quoted as saying "that's one bad pilot," how presidential. (
http://www.s5000.com/articles_main387.php)
Then Bush decided to continue into the classroom, for his meet and read with the school children. Later on in the morning Bush was informed that another plane had hit the World Trade Center and that America was under attack. At this time Bush was faced with two scenarios, as he could have either politely stood up and excused himself from the room, telling the kids that he needed to attend to presidential business. Or he could just sit there, like a fool. As we all know, Bush chose the latter and the rest is history. Instead of getting up and actually leading, he waited five minutes and then decided to act. But instead of returning to Washington, Bush made a quick speech to the nation (in front of the very children he didn't want to worry by excusing himself from the classroom) and then hopped on a plane where he practically flew around the world in 80 days (or at least felt like it).
I can see quickly getting the president out of the open, but that didn't appear to be a major problem when Bush sat there for 5 minutes and then spent about another hour in the elementary school before finally leaving. At this point, like with Roosevelt and Pearl Harbor, it was not clear WHAT was happening, how many more attacks were planned, or where they would hit. That however was not a concern to Bush, or his staff, and instead of actually leading on 9-11, he flew around the nation like a scared child running from the bogeyman.
Roosevelt stood up and decided to lead when Pearl Harbor was bombed. Bush flew around the nation, scared to lead and left it up to others in his administration. The fact Japan had just bombed the United States did not force Roosevelt into hiding, even though it very well was possible the Japanese had ordered a hit on Washington, or even the White House. Bush though? He hid, which is something only a coward does.
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