Like everyone else on September 11, 2001, Joe Biden found himself in a state of shock when he heard the news that a plane had crashed into one of the most impressive buildings of the Twin Towers in New York City. He was on his way from Wilmington to Washington, D.C., awaiting the unusual departure and hearing of John Walters' Senate confirmation, President George W. Bush's election for the National Drug Control Policy Office.
But 30 minutes or so after boarding his regular train, other passengers began to hear reports from New York City. Shortly thereafter, his wife, Jill, telephoned to report the news.
Advertisement
In those moments that followed, Biden made his way into a dark and difficult chapter in U.S. history, which could have seen him play a major role in the US response within two decades. At the time, he gave American society one of the first examples of humanity that defined his political career and his presidential conduct. The first tendency of the Senator at that time in a state of fear and turmoil was that he had a responsible, perch, and unique ability designed to comfort him; and that he needed to find a way to communicate with the public.
Biden has always been proud of his reading skills, which he respected over time despite his childhood difficulties. At one point, they worked to his advantage - as when he was hailed at the beginning of his career as the leader of a new generation of Democrats and chaired the Judiciary Committee during the Supreme Court nomination hearing. At one point, his confidence in them was betrayed by the results, such as when he went on a rampage about Barack Obama's speech art during the 2008 general elections, or several times when he mentioned something in the bag that he had to explain later.
But he has never, before 9/11, attempted to use those skills in the event of a national catastrophe.
People gathered for the 9/11 Memorial on the first day that opened after a three-month closure due to coronavirus on July 4, 2020 in New York City.
When he got off the train at about 10 a.m., Biden ran a few blocks between Union Station and Capitol. Outside, smoke rose from the air across the Potomac. Another plane, American Airlines Flight 77, crashed into the Pentagon. A Capitol police officer stopped him at the door, refusing to let him into the building.
Margaret Aitken, then Biden's press secretary, met him on his way to the Capitol's footsteps. He recalled Biden trying to figure out how to get in front of the C-SPAN cameras on the Senate floor to say something the public could find reassuring. “He wanted our country and the world to know that our government is still in operation. That was very important to him at the time, ”recalls Aitken.
Part of Biden’s desire to speak that morning was driven by the fact that some national statistics could not. Bush was still being kept away from DC for his safety, having spent the morning in a classroom in Florida improving education and learning. Vice President President Dick Cheney was at the Presidential Palace. Biden, who recently chaired the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, was the former chief of foreign policy chief executive officer.
But those who have worked with Biden's note strongly believe in his ability to show calmness and compassion in times when those two ideas seem absent. While some politicians find it difficult to comfort the victims, Biden is proud of his ability to do so. He has encouraged his graduating colleagues, provided national addresses during times of gun violence, and recalled the tragic events surrounding the Covid-19 epidemic. It is a role that every politician can play. Also, as the day of 9/11 went on, it was unclear whether Biden, or anyone else, could.
Without Biden's protests against the Capitol police, he would not be allowed to enter the Senate. Aides remember, meanwhile, that Biden was watching a mix of law enforcement, staff and visitors standing in shock after the Capitol evacuation and began to go up to the people alone, shrug their shoulders, and share the message he wanted to give the cameras: "We'll be fine, we'll be fine."
Former attorney Bob Brady, a Pennsylvania Democrat, was with Biden that day. Both have tried to persuade other members of the judiciary to join and seek access to the Capitol to get Congress back on track, as long as they want to show that the government has not been lured. But after trying for hours, they gave up