Presidents have helped the nation work through some of its most wrenching tragedies, often through soaring rhetoric that can leave a lasting mark at a time of deep pain.
When President George W. Bush grabbed a bullhorn while standing in the rubble of the World Trade Center shortly after the 2001 terrorist attacks, the image of a strong and compassionate leader helped send his approval ratings to 90 percent.
President Bill Clinton similarly paid a moving tribute after the bombing of a federal building in Oklahoma City in 1995 in which 168 people died. “Let us let our own children know that we will stand against the forces of fear,” Clinton said at the memorial service. “When there is talk of hatred, let us stand up and talk against it. When there is talk of violence, let us stand up and talk against it. In the face of death, let us honor life.”
The somber tributes President Ronald Reagan paid to the Marines killed in a Beirut bombing in 1983 and to the seven astronauts who died in the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger in 1986 helped cement his reputation as a “Great Communicator.” The New York Times
