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Michael Gerson, Post columnist and Bush speechwriter on 9/11, dies at 58

Mr. Gerson helped shape President George W. Bush’s messaging after the 9/11 attacks and then moved to The Washington Post, where he wrote about politics and faith

Michael Gerson, a speechwriter for President George W. Bush who helped craft messages of grief and resolve after 9/11, then explored conservative politics and faith as a Washington Post columnist writing on issues as diverse as President Donald Trump’s disruptive grip on the GOP and his own struggles with depression, died Nov. 17 at a hospital in Washington. He was 58.

The cause of death was complications of cancer, said Peter Wehner, a longtime friend and former colleague.

After years of working as a writer for conservative and evangelical leaders, including Prison Fellowship Ministries founder and Watergate felon Charles Colson, Mr. Gerson joined the Bush campaign in 1999. Mr. Gerson, an evangelical Christian, wrote with an eye toward religious and moral imagery, and that approach melded well with Bush’s personality as a leader open about his own Christian faith.

Mr. Gerson’s work and bonds with Bush drew comparisons to other powerful White House partnerships, such as John F. Kennedy’s with his speechwriter and adviser Ted Sorensen and Ronald Reagan’s with aide Peggy Noonan. Conservative commentator William Kristol told The Post in 2006 that in modern times, Mr. Gerson “might have had more influence than any other White House staffer who wasn’t chief of staff or national security adviser.”

“Mike was substantively influential, not just a wordsmith, not just a crafter of language for other people’s policies, but he influenced policy itself,” Kristol said.

As an impromptu speaker, Bush had a reputation for gaffes and mangling phrases, but Mr. Gerson provided him with memorable flights of oratory, such as the pledge to end “the soft bigotry of low expectations” in the education of low-income and minority students and the description of democracy — in Bush’s first inaugural address — as a “seed upon the wind, taking root in many nations.” As a Bush confidant and head of the speechwriting team, he also encouraged such memorable turns of phrase as “axis of evil,” which Bush used to explain the administration’s hawkish posture as it started long and costly wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

In the chaotic months after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Mr. Gerson became the key craftsman articulating what became known as the “Bush Doctrine” — which advocated preemptive strikes against potential terrorists and other perceived threats. With his team of writers, he began shaping Bush’s tone and tenor, including addresses at Washington National Cathedral on Sept. 14 and to a joint session of Congress on Sept. 20.

“Our grief has turned to anger, and anger to resolution,” Bush told Congress. “Whether we bring our enemies to justice, or bring justice to our enemies, justice will be done.”

Mr. Gerson and Bush found common ground in the use of religious themes of higher power and light vs. darkness, seeing such rhetoric as part of other historic struggles, including the abolitionist movement. “It is a real mistake to try to secularize American political discourse,” Mr. Gerson told NPR in 2006. “It removes one of the primary sources of visions of justice in American history.”

Opinion: Michael Gerson followed his faith — and America was better for it

Before the State of the Union address in January 2002, Bush’s speechwriters were instructed to link Iraq to the wider battles against terrorism — a sign that Bush and his inner circle, including Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and Vice President Dick Cheney, were gearing up for war.

Speechwriter David Frum said he came up with “axis of hatred” to describe Iraq, North Korea and Iran (even though Iraq’s Saddam Hussein was a foe of leaders in Tehran). Mr. Gerson tweaked it to “axis of evil” to make it sound more “theological” — a battle between good and evil — Frum wrote in his 2003 book on Bush, “The Right Man.”

“I thought that was terrific,” Frum wrote about Mr. Gerson’s change. “It was the sort of language President Bush used.” ( Writing in the Atlantic, another speechwriter, Matthew Scully, said that Mr. Gerson was caught up in his own mythology and that Frum and Scully were more actively involved in formulating “axis of evil.”)

Mr. Gerson also had a hand in pushing the Bush White House’s false assertions about Iraq — including debunked allegations of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction — that would be used to justify the 2003 invasion. More than eight years of war claimed the lives of about 4,500 U.S. service personnel and more than 100,000 Iraqi insurgents and civilians, according to monitoring groups . Some place the number of Iraqi deaths far higher.

Mr. Gerson never publicly expressed regrets for having helped sell the Iraq War. His 2007 memoir, “Heroic Conservatism,” declared that U.S. leadership is essential to fight terrorism and global poverty and disease. But he mostly sidestepped the many ethical and legal questions arising from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and such consequences as the waterboarding of prisoners, renditions to Guantánamo Bay and the thousands of civilian casualties.

After a heart attack in December 2004, Mr. Gerson stepped back from the stresses of speechwriting and took on policy advisory roles full time. He often lamented that the Bush administration’s humanitarian initiatives, such as AIDS prevention in Africa, became footnotes in a world changed by 9/11.

Mr. Gerson left the White House in 2006, with Bush’s backing, to pursue outside policy work and writing. The next year, he joined The Post and wrote twice-weekly columns that expanded his reach as a conservative distressed by populism and the politics of anger, and animated by the conviction that religion and social activism are powerful partners.

“That’s a different kind of conservatism,” he told the PBS show “Religion and Ethics Newsweekly” in 2007, “a conservatism of the common good that argues that we need to orient our policies towards people that might not even vote for us.”

Mr. Gerson’s columns for The Post took many shots at President Barack Obama during his two terms, calling his foreign policy undisciplined and the Affordable Care Act — and its bid to move the nation toward universal health care — shambolic. With the rise of Trump, however, Mr. Gerson found himself outside looking in. He bemoaned the fact that many in the Republican Party — including fellow evangelical Christians — shifted allegiances to Trump despite his record of lies, infidelities and racist remarks. But he acknowledged that, for the moment, he was on the weaker side as a Trump critic.

“It has been said that when you choose your community, you choose your character,” Mr. Gerson wrote in an essay for The Post this past Sept. 1. “Strangely, evangelicals have broadly chosen the company of Trump supporters who deny any role for character in politics and define any useful villainy as virtue.”

Studied theology

Michael John Gerson was born in Belmar, N.J., on May 15, 1964, and raised in and around St. Louis by evangelical Christian parents. His mother was an artist; his father was a dairy engineer whose work included developing ice cream flavors.

He studied theology at Wheaton College, an evangelical school in suburban Chicago, graduating in 1986. He began his career as a ghostwriter with Prison Fellowship Ministries, run by Colson , a self-described “hatchet man” for President Richard M. Nixon during the Watergate crisis. Colson spent seven months in prison for obstruction of justice.

In prison, Colson said, he experienced a religious conversion that redirected his life. For the young Mr. Gerson, it proved a profound inspiration — and a first brush with someone who once had the ear of a president. “I had read many of the Watergate books, in which Chuck appears as a character with few virtues apart from loyalty,” Mr. Gerson wrote in The Post in 2012 . “I knew a different man.”

In the late 1980s, Mr. Gerson moved into politics as policy director for Sen. Daniel Coats (R-Ind.), and he later wrote speeches for Sen. Robert J. Dole (R-Kan.) during his 1996 presidential run. Mr. Gerson spent two years as senior editor at U.S. News & World Report before being recruited by Bush campaign strategist Karl Rove as a speechwriter for the Bush-Cheney ticket in the run-up to the 2000 election.

At first it was just the thrill of the political “high-wire excitement,” Mr. Gerson said. Then he found a kindred soul in Bush during a campaign stop in Gaffney, S.C., when someone in the crowd asked how to block undocumented migrants at the southern border.

Bush “took the opportunity to remind his rural, conservative audience that ‘family values don’t stop at the Rio Grande,’ ” Mr. Gerson wrote , “and that as long as ‘moms and dads’ in Mexico couldn’t feed their children at home, they would seek opportunity in America.”

Mr. Gerson’s 2010 book, written with former speechwriting colleague Wehner , “City of Man: Religion and Politics in a New Era,” is a call to action for evangelicals to use their influence for broader social and economic programs.

In 1990, Mr. Gerson married the former Dawn Soon Miller. In addition to his wife, survivors include two sons, Michael and Nicholas, and two brothers.

In his Post columns, Mr. Gerson wrote candidly about his battles with cancer and depression. “I have no doubt that I will eventually repeat the cycle of depression,” he wrote in February 2019. “But now I have some self-knowledge that can’t be taken away. I know that — when I’m in my right mind — I choose hope.”

David Shipley, The Post’s editorial page editor, called Mr. Gerson “the rare writer whose mind, heart and soul came through in equal measures in his work.”

In a holiday season column in 2021, Mr., Gerson quoted lines from a Sylvia Plath poem and examined his fight with cancer to arrive at a single uplifting thought: “Hope wins.”

My Friend, Mike Gerson

A beautiful writer with an even more beautiful soul

In the mid-1990s, I was the policy director of Empower America, a think tank whose co-directors were Jack Kemp, William Bennett, and Jeane Kirkpatrick. A colleague told me that there was a person writing speeches for Jack he thought I might like to meet. He introduced me to Michael J. Gerson. Mike and I bonded immediately. Ours was an acquaintance that quickly grew into a friendship that soon became one of the most cherished relationships of my life.

Mike Gerson died early yesterday morning of cancer. He was 58 years old.

Mike was one of the most gifted writers of his generation, a presidential speechwriter for George W. Bush who became a twice-weekly columnist for The Washington Post . He wrote on politics and faith, movies and books, the Queen of England , his beloved dogs , his first bout with cancer , and dropping his son off at college . Mike loved words, and he wrote like an angel. It was a way to express the longings and loves of his heart.

The best speeches Mike worked on with George W. Bush were his efforts to call forth our better selves, to right wrongs and dispense comfort, and to strive for justice.

Here are the words from President Bush’s speech at National Cathedral three days after the attacks on 9/11: “We learn in tragedy that His purposes are not always our own. Yet the prayers of private suffering, whether in our homes or in this great cathedral, are known and heard, and understood. There are prayers that help us last through the day, or endure the night. There are prayers of friends and strangers that give us strength for the journey. And there are prayers that yield our will to a will greater than our own.” There was also this: “This world He created is of moral design. Grief and tragedy and hatred are only for a time. Goodness, remembrance, and love have no end. And the Lord of life holds all who die and all who mourn.”

Mike was an instrument of mercy, a key figure in the Bush administration’s 2003 effort to provide AIDS treatment and prevention to Africans on a massive scale. At an Oval Office meeting the year before, as the details of the ambitious and controversial plan were being discussed—controversial because previous efforts had accomplished little, there were infrastructure challenges to overcome, and the cost of the program was enormous—President Bush asked people for their views. He turned to Mike last.

“If we can do this, and we don’t,” Mike said, “it will be a source of shame.” To which Bush responded, “That’s Gerson being Gerson!” And so it was. The President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) was the largest commitment ever made by any nation to address a single disease. Mark Dybul, a brilliant NIH researcher who crafted the plan, says that nearly 20 years later, PEPFAR has saved 20 million lives, prevented millions of new infections, and changed the course of the epidemic.

“Mike was one of the most vocal and effective advocates for PEPFAR—and later, the president’s malaria initiative,” Dybul told me. “From the Oval Office meeting that led to the president’s decision, to constantly pushing to keep global health front and center on the agenda, to providing the public words that helped drive policy and funding, Mike spoke the president’s language of the heart and of faith that was central to the success of PEPFAR.”

Over the course of our friendship, I came to understand how essential faith was to Mike. He attended Wheaton College, the flagship evangelical school in America. He had been accepted at Fuller Theological Seminary for graduate studies, but Chuck Colson, then president of Prison Fellowship, hired Mike right out of college to write for him. That brought Mike to Washington, D.C., and changed the trajectory of his life, but not the outworking of his faith. He believed that politics, at its best, could advance justice.

Peter Wehner: The evangelical Church is breaking apart

Mike’s views reflected what he called a “Christian anthropology”—a belief in the inherent rights and dignity of every human life. It led him to solidarity with the weak and the suffering, the dispossessed, those living in the shadows of life. His faith was capacious and generous; it created in him a deep commitment to justice and the common good.

Mike was appalled at those who disfigured Jesus and used their faith for the purposes of dehumanization. It is one of the reasons why he was so thankful to publish an extraordinary essay in the Post before his death, lamenting Christians whose view of politics “is closer to ‘Game of Thrones’ than to the Beatitudes.”

Mike told me how moved he was by the comments and emails “from ex-believers saying the article helped them rediscover why they once believed.” When I asked him what he found most encouraging about the response, he told me, “All the people who find the Jesus of the Gospels so appealing.”

Very few people knew the full scope of the health challenges Mike faced. He suffered a heart attack in 2004, when he was 40. Kidney cancer in 2013. Debilitating leg pain, probably the result of surgical nerve damage. The kidney cancer spread to his lungs. Then Parkinson’s disease and metastatic adrenal cancer. And finally, metastatic bone cancer in multiple locations, intensely painful. At one point he told me he was on 20 different medications. Mike and I joked that of all the figures in the Bible he could model himself after, he chose Job. Yet through it all—and this is simply remarkable—I never saw any self-pity. Mike referred to himself as “an instinctual Calvinist,” a person not prone to ask “why me?” He bore up under the hardship and pain with astonishing grace and dignity.

From the April 2018 issue: The last temptation

In a 2019 sermon at National Cathedral, he revealed that he had been hospitalized for depression, a condition he had struggled with since his 20s. He was raw, honest, and vulnerable in describing its effects. He said that at times he had reached the breaking point but didn’t break, fortunate to have the right medicine and the right medical care and the right friends “who run into the burning building of your life to rescue you.”

“Over time,” Mike said, “you begin to see hints and glimmers of a larger world outside the prison of your sadness. The conscious mind takes hold of some shred of beauty or love. And then more shreds, until you begin to think maybe, just maybe, there is something better on the far side of despair.” I heard from other friends, who also suffer from depression, how meaningful they found Mike’s words to be.

In the last months of his life, Mike told me that the pain was sometimes so distracting that he couldn’t write, but then we would move to other topics. I have pages of notes from my final conversations with him, as we spoke mostly about faith and theology. He gave me a book, and recommended others.

In the last weeks of Mike’s life, his wife, Dawn, and sons, Bucky and Nick, were faithfully by his side. His two brothers were able to spend time with him; so were close friends, all of whom were able to express their appreciation and love for Mike. The common theme from Mike was gratitude. He spoke about how grateful he was for the life he was able to lead and for the people who loved him and were able to travel his journey with him. He was in pain, but he was at peace.

I was planning on seeing him one Sunday morning in late September, but he had to cancel. He wrote me afterward, simply saying, “Sorry about today. Slept most of morning. A little down. Want to be an example to my sons. But hard to be in extreme pain, which eventually comes with bone cancer.”

Mike Gerson was a beautiful writer with an even more beautiful soul. He lived a wonderful and consequential life. “You have been a voice for Jesus,” one friend, Jack Oliver, wrote to Mike as he neared the end. “Your homecoming will be amazing.” He hadn’t just been an example for his sons; he was an example for us all.

Mike is now with the Lord he loved and served so well. But oh, how I miss my friend.

Michael Gerson, Washington Post Columnist and Former George W. Bush Speechwriter, Dies at 58

Known for his speeches for Bush on 9/11, Gerson died at a Washington, D.C. hospital early Thursday

Michael Gerson, a former speechwriter for President George W. Bush and an op-ed columnist for the Washington Post, has died. The news came early Thursday out of a Washington, D.C.-area hospital. He was 58 years old.

Peter Wehner, a longtime friend and former colleague of Gerson, told the Post that the cause of death was complications of cancer. Gerson was diagnosed with slow-growing kidney cancer in 2013.

The political writer joined the Bush campaign in 1999. During his tenure as a Bush speechwriter, Gerson helped shape the former president’s messaging in the weeks following the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Notable phrases coined by Gerson include “the soft bigotry of low expectations,” “the armies of compassion” and the “axis of Evil.” In 2006, Gerson left the Bush administration to pursue other writing and policy work.

He later joined the Post in 2007, where he wrote twice weekly columns about conservative politics and faith.

Gerson is survived by his wife, Dawn Soon Miller, two sons, Michael and Nicholas, and two brothers.

The Washington Post first reported the news.

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Meet the press now, michael gerson, former bush speechwriter during 9/11, dies at 58.

Michael Gerson, speechwriter to former President George W. Bush and a columnist at the Washington Post has died at the age of 58 due to complications from cancer, according to the Washington Post. Gerson helped craft President Bush’s remarks following the 9/11 attacks and was a frequent guest on Meet the Press. Nov. 17, 2022

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Full transcript: Former President George W. Bush speaks at 9/11 memorial ceremony

Bush honored the lives lost on United Flight 93 in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

Former President George W. Bush spoke at the Sept. 11 memorial in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, to mark the 20th anniversary of the attacks Saturday.

The memorial commemorates the crash of United Flight 93, one of four commercial airplanes hijacked in the September 11 attacks. The plane crashed into a field after passengers fought with and overcame the hijackers. All aboard, including 40 crew and passengers, perished.

Bush, who was in office at the time, reflected on the bravery of those passengers and the unity and heroism that took place in the days after the attacks, while warning about the lingering threat of terrorism, both foreign and domestic.

He was joined by former First Lady Laura Bush, Vice President Kamala Harris, former Vice President Dick Cheney, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf, U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland and others.

MORE: 9/11 20 years live updates: Former presidents joined Biden to honor lives lost

The transcript of Bush's speech was as follows. It has been edited for clarity:

Thank you all. Thank you very much. Laura and I are honored to be with you, Madam Vice President, Vice President Cheney, Gov. Wolf, Secretary Haaland, and distinguished guests.

Twenty years ago, we all found, in different ways, in different places, but all at the same moment, that our lives would be changed forever.

The world was loud with carnage and sirens, and then quiet with missing voices that would never be heard again. These lives remain precious to our country and infinitely precious to many of you. Today, we remember your loss, we share your sorrow and we honor the men and women that you have loved so long and so well.

For those too young to recall that clear September day, it is hard to describe the mix of feelings we experienced. There was horror at the scale of destruction and awe at the bravery and kindness that rose to meet it. There was shock at the audacity of evil and gratitude for the heroism and decency that opposed it.

In the sacrifice of first responders and the mutual aid of strangers, in the solidarity of grief and grace, the actions of an enemy revealed the spirit of the people. And we were proud of our wounded nation.

In these memories, the passengers and crew of Flight 93 must always have an honored place. Here, the intended targets became the instruments of rescue, and many who are now alive owe a vast, unconscious debt to the defiance displayed in the skies above this field.

It would be a mistake to idealize the experience of those terrible events. All that many people could initially see was the brute randomness of death. All that many could feel was unearned suffering. All that many could hear was God's terrible silence. There are many who still struggle with the lonely pain that cuts deep within.

In those fateful hours, we learned other lessons as well. We saw that Americans were vulnerable, but not fragile. That they possessed a core of strength that survives the worst that life can bring. We learned that bravery is more common than we imagined, emerging with sudden splendor in the face of death. We vividly felt how every hour with our loved ones was a temporary and holy gift. And we found that even the longest days end.

MORE: Video Remembering 40 people killed in Shanksville

Many of us have tried to make spiritual sense of these events. There is no simple explanation for the mix of providence and human will that sets the direction of our lives. But comfort can come from a different sort of knowledge. After wandering in the dark, many have found they were actually walking step by step toward grace.

As a nation our adjustments have been profound. Many Americans struggled to understand why an enemy would hate us with such zeal. The security measures incorporated into our lives are both sources of comfort and reminders of our vulnerability. And we have seen growing evidence that the dangers to our country can come not only across borders but from violence that gathers within.

There's little cultural overlap between violent extremists abroad and violent extremists at home. But in their disdain for pluralism, in their disregard of human life, in their determination to defile national symbols, they are children of the same foul spirit, and it is our continuing duty to confront them.

After 9/11, millions of brave Americans stepped forward and volunteered to serve in the armed forces. The military measures taken over the last 20 years to pursue dangers at their source have led to debate. But one thing is certain: We owe an assurance to all those who have fought our nation’s most recent battles.

Let me speak directly to veterans and people in uniform. The cause you pursued at the call of duty is the noblest America has to offer. You have shielded your fellow citizens from danger. You have defended the beliefs of your country and advanced the rights of the downtrodden. You have been the face of hope and mercy in dark places. You have been a force for good in the world. Nothing that has followed -- nothing -- can tarnish your honor or diminish your accomplishments. To you and the honored dead, our country is forever grateful.

In the weeks and months following the 9/11 attacks, I was proud to lead an amazing, resilient united people. When it comes to the unity of American people, those days seem distant from our own. Malign force seems at work in our common life that turns every disagreement into an argument and every argument into a clash of cultures. So much of our politics has become a naked appeal to anger, fear and resentment. That leaves us worried about our nation and our future together. I come without explanations or solutions. I can only tell you what I've seen.

MORE: PHOTOS: Remembering 9/11

On America's day of trial and grief I saw millions of people instinctively grab for a neighbor's hand and rally to the cause of one another. That is the America I know. At a time when religious bigotry might have flowed freely, I saw Americans reject prejudice and embrace people of Muslim faith. That is the nation I know. At a time when nativism could have stirred hatred and violence against people perceived as outsiders, I saw Americans reaffirm their welcome to immigrants and refugees. That is the nation I know. At a time when some viewed the rising generation as individualistic and decadent, I saw young people embrace an ethic of service and rise to selfless action. That is the nation I know.

This is not mere nostalgia, it is the truest version of ourselves. It is what we have been, and what we can be again. Twenty years ago, terrorists chose a random group of Americans on a routine flight to be collateral damage in a spectacular act of terror. The 33 passengers and seven crew of Flight 93 could have been any group of citizens selected by fate. In a sense, they stood in for us all.

The terrorists soon discovered that a random group of Americans is an exceptional group of people, facing an impossible circumstance. They comforted their loved ones by phone, braced each other for action and defeated the designs of evil.

These Americans were brave, strong and united in ways that shocked the terrorists but should not surprise any of us. This is the nation we know. And whenever we need hope and inspiration, we can look to the skies and remember. God bless.

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Inside Washington Post columnist Michael Gerson’s relationship with George W Bush as famed speechwriter dies at 58

• G.P. Rodriguez
• Published : 11:25 ET, Nov 17 2022
• Updated : 14:36 ET, Nov 17 2022

MICHAEL Gerson, who has died on Thursday at the age of 58, was one of the voices that helped craft former President George W Bush's rhetoric during some of the nation's pivotal moments.

The conservative speechwriter and Washington Post columnist passed away in Washington, D.C., due to complications with cancer, the paper reported.

Reacting to the news on Thursday, Bush said he was "heartbroken."

“He was a great writer, and I was fortunate he served as my chief speechwriter and a trusted advisor for many years,” Bush said.

“His brilliant mind was enhanced by his big heart. As a result, Mike harnessed the power of the pen to not just write about good policy, but drive it.”

Gerson gained national notoriety after he joined Bush's campaign in 1999. The two shared an evangelical Christian background, with Gerson infusing the former president's speeches with religion and morality themes.

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He worked on the Bush's first inauguratal speech, and also the one following the September 11 terrorist attacks.

The famous Bush speech included the poignant phrase by Gerson: "[Our] responsibility to history is already clear: to answer these attacks and rid the world of evil.”

Gerson was behind the famous line where Bush pledged to end “the soft bigotry of low expectations” in the education of minority and low-income students.

He was also Bush's speechwriter during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, helping convince the public to support it.

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Following his time at  the White House until 2006, he moved to The Post, where he wrote about politics and  faith  in twice-weekly columns.

Gerson is the  author  of Heroic Conservatism (2007) and co-author of City of Man: Religion and Politics in a New Era (2010).

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While writing for The Post, he was open with readers about his ongoing struggles with  depression .

In one of his February 2019 columns, Gerson  wrote : “I have no doubt that I will eventually repeat the cycle of depression, but now I have some self-knowledge that can’t be taken away. I know that — when I’m in my right mind — I choose hope.”

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Sep 11, 2021

George W. Bush Speech Transcript at 9/11 Memorial Ceremony on 20th Anniversary

Former President George W. Bush spoke in Shanksville, PA on the 20th anniversary of 9/11. Read the full transcript of his memorial speech here.

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George W. Bush: ( 00:00 ) 20 years ago, we all found in different ways in different places but all at the same moment that our lives would be changed forever. The world was loud with carnage and sirens and then quiet with missing voices that would never be heard again. These lives remain precious to our country and infinitely precious to many of you. Today, we remember your loss, we share your sorrow, and we honor the men and women you have loved so long and so well.

George W. Bush: ( 00:45 ) For those too young to recall that clear September day, it is hard to describe the mix of feelings we experienced. There was horror at the scale of destruction and awe at the bravery and kindness that rose to meet it. There was shock at the audacity of evil and gratitude for the heroism and decency that opposed it. In the sacrifice of the first responders, in the mutual aid of strangers, in the solidarity of grief and grace, the actions of an enemy revealed the spirit of a people; and we were proud of our wounded nation.

George W. Bush: ( 01:34 ) In these memories, the passengers and crew of Flight 93 must always have an honored place. Here, the intended targets became the instruments of rescue, and many who are now alive owe a vast unconscious debt to the defiance displayed in the skies above this field. It would be a mistake to idealize the experience of those terrible events. All that many people could initially see was the brute randomness of death. All that many could feel was unearned suffering. All that many could hear was God’s terrible silence.There are many who still struggle with a lonely pain that cuts deep within.

George W. Bush: ( 02:26 ) In those fateful hours, we learned other lessons as well. We saw that Americans were vulnerable but not fragile, that they possess a core of strength that survives the worst that life can bring. We learned that bravery is more common than we imagined, emerging with sudden splendor in the face of death. We vividly felt how every hour with our loved ones was a temporary and holy gift, and we found that even the longest days end.

George W. Bush: ( 03:04 ) Many of us have tried to make spiritual sense of these events. There is no simple explanation for the mix of providence and human will that sets the direction of our lives, but comfort can come from a different sort of knowledge. After wandering long and lost in the dark, many have found they were actually walking step-by-step toward grace.

George W. Bush: ( 03:32 ) As a nation, our adjustments have been profound. Many Americans struggled to understand why an enemy would hate us with such zeal. The security measures incorporated into our lives are both sources of comfort and reminders of our vulnerability. And we have seen growing evidence that the dangers to our country can come not only across borders, but from violence that gathers within.

George W. Bush: ( 04:02 ) There is little cultural overlap between violent extremists abroad and violent extremists at home. But then there’s this disdain for pluralism in their disregard for human life, in their determination to defile national symbols. They are children of the same foul spirit, and it is our continuing duty to confront them.

George W. Bush: ( 04:28 ) After 9/11, millions of brave Americans stepped forward and volunteered to serve in the Armed Forces. The military measures taken over the last 20 years to pursue dangers at their source have led to debate. But one thing is certain. We owe assurance to all who have fought our nation’s most recent battles.

George W. Bush: ( 04:53 ) Let me speak directly to veterans and people in uniform. The cause you pursued at the call of duty is the noblest America has to offer. You have shielded your fellow citizens from danger. You have defended the beliefs of your country and advance the rights of the downtrodden. You have been the face of hope and mercy in dark places. You have been a force for good in the world. Nothing that has followed, nothing can tarnish your honor or diminish your accomplishments. To you and to the honored dead, our country is forever grateful.

George W. Bush: ( 05:36 ) In the weeks and months following the 9/11 attacks, I was proud to lead an amazing resilient united people. When it comes to the unity of America, those days seem distant from our own. A malign force seems at work in our common life that turns every disagreement into an argument and every argument into a clash of cultures. So, much of our politics has become a naked appeal to anger, fear, and resentment. That leaves us worried about our nation and our future together.

George W. Bush: ( 06:21 ) I come without explanations or solutions. I can only tell you what I’ve seen. On America’s day of trial and grief, I saw millions of people instinctively grab for a neighbor’s hand and rally to the cause of one another. That is the America I know.

George W. Bush: ( 06:51 ) At a time when religious bigotry might’ve flowed freely, I saw Americans reject prejudice and embrace people of Muslim faith. That is the nation I know.

George W. Bush: ( 07:07 ) At a time when nativism could have stirred hatred and violence against people perceived as outsiders, I saw America’s reaffirm their welcome to immigrants and refugees. That is the nation I know.

George W. Bush: ( 07:25 ) At a time when some viewed the rising generation as individualistic and decadent, I saw young people embrace an ethic of service and rise to selfless action. That is the nation I know.

George W. Bush: ( 07:43 ) This is not mere nostalgia. It is the truest version of ourselves. It is what we have been and what we can be again. 20 years ago, terrorists chose a random group of Americans on a routine flight to be collateral damage in a spectacular act of terror. The 33 passengers and seven crew of Flight 93 could have been any group of citizens selected by fate. In a sense, they stood in for us all.

George W. Bush: ( 08:20 ) The terrorists soon discovered that a random group of Americans is an exceptional group of people. Facing an impossible circumstance, they comforted their loved ones by phone, braced each other for action, and defeated the designs of evil. These Americans were brave, strong, and united in ways that shocked the terrorists, but should not surprise any of us. This is the nation we know.

George W. Bush: ( 08:59 ) And whenever we need hope and inspiration, we can look to the skies and remember, God bless.

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These online exhibits and digital collections explore some of the artifacts, photos and videos, and documents housed in the George W. Bush Presidential Library. 

The George W. Bush Presidential Library maintains approximately 43,000 artifacts, primarily foreign and domestic gifts given to the President and Mrs. Laura Bush, and other items obtained throughout the presidency.

The George W. Bush Presidential Library gives researchers a look at American history, the American Presidency, and important issues of public policy.      

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Working with His Senior Staff, President George W. Bush Reviews a Speech Regarding the Day's Terrorist Attacks that He Will Deliver to the Nation from the Oval Office, September 11, 2001.

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The George W. Bush Foundation owns and operates the George W. Bush Presidential Museum. For tickets go to  https://www.bushcenter.org/ plan-your-visit  

During the George W. Bush Administration, speeches were used to communicate important policies or actions taken by the United States government. Before the President gave a speech, drafts were created by speechwriters. Speechwriters performed research on topics and reviewed previous speeches and documents to ensure that remarks given by President Bush had a consistent tone and voice. After a speech was completed, it was sent to the Staff Secretary. The Staff Secretary circulated documents to White House staff and requested comments. Once any comments were received, the Staff Secretary coordinated changes to the draft and ensured that the final copy was approved and printed for the President. Often President Bush reviewed and made comments on speeches himself.

After a speech was finalized, it was printed on speech cards. These small cards were used by the President as he gave the speech. President Bush had the habit of underlining almost every sentence on his speech cards. He also sometimes noted where to take a pause or made last minute edits.

Speech drafts and other speech-related documents are found in the White House Office of Records Management subject files. They are primarily filed in SP (Speeches) or in subject files that are related to the speech's topic. For example, a speech given in celebration of a holiday could be filed in HO (Holidays).

Speech drafts are also found in Staff Member Office Files or the files of someone who worked in the White House. Some offices, like the White House Office of Speechwriting or the Staff Secretary, have large groupings of speech cards, speech drafts, and documents used during the writing process in the records.

The following carefully selected resources, some of which are from the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum, provide further information about Presidential speeches.

Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Requests

• 2014-0040-F: Drafts of President George W. Bush's First Inaugural Address
• 2014-0041-F: Drafts of President George W. Bush's Remarks at the National Day of Prayer and Remembrance on September 14, 2001
• 2014-0042-F: Drafts of the 2002 State of the Union Address
• 2014-0043-F: Drafts of the Beginning of the Iraq War Speeches
• 2014-0044-F: Drafts of the May 1, 2003 Speech Delivered Aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln
• 2014-0045-F: Drafts of the Second Inaugural Address of President George W. Bush, Delivered January 20, 2005
• 2014-0489-F: Select Speeches Related to Turkey
• 2014-0555-F - Drafts of President George W. Bush's Remarks at the United States Military Academy at West Point on June 1, 2002
• 2016-0137-F: Records on President George W. Bush's Address to the Nation on the Terrorist Attacks of September 11, 2001
• 2016-0138-F: Speech Drafts of President George W. Bush's Address to Congress on September 20, 2001
• 2016-0139-F: Speech Drafts of President George W. Bush's Address to the Nation Announcing Strikes Against Al-Qaeda Training Camps and Taliban Military Installations in Afghanistan, 10/07/2001

Archival Research Guide

For a more complete guide of the archival records that are open for research, please download the Archival Research Guide:

Document Material at the George W. Bush Presidential Library Pertaining To Major Speeches during the Bush Administration

Additional Resources

Final transcripts of public speeches are published in the Public Papers of the Presidents . Additional speeches, remarks, and statements from 2001-2009 are available on the A rchived White House Website .

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Former George H.W. Bush Speechwriter on Why the President Was Shy About Talking About His World War II Service in Public

I joined the Bush-Quayle presidential campaign in the summer of 1988 when I was 25, writing something called the “line of the day”—a one-page memo of catchy facts, stats, anecdotes on whatever the topic of the day was. Once we arrived at the White House, I began ghostwriting magazine articles by the President. I would send him questionnaires through intraoffice mail and he’d handwrite his answers. It was like having a pen pal. I worked my way up to doing more junior speechwriting stuff, like the turkey pardoning and statements of congratulations to spelling-bee winners. The more I wrote for him, the more I learned his style. He didn’t like to talk about himself much. If we used the word “I” too much he’d circle it, to mean “too many.” He felt that in a democracy the President should use the word “We.”

That’s probably why he was generally extremely reticent to talk about his World War II experience.

The most memorable speechwriting experience I had with him was writing a speech to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1991.

One night at about 6 o’clock in the Oval Office, before the anniversary, we started talking about what his memories were of the day he heard about Pearl Harbor. Despite his father’s objections, he went to sign up for the Navy and got turned away because he was only 17. He showed back up on June 9, 1942, a few days before his 18th birthday and enlisted, becoming the youngest Navy pilot at the time.

Pearl Harbor had a huge effect on his life. Though he flew 58 combat missions, he bristled at being called a war hero. He thought the war heroes were the ones who didn’t come home. He told me about all of the buddies he had lost, the circumstances of their deaths, and him having to write to their parents. But every time he would tell me one of these stories, I’d say, “That’s an amazing story! Can I put that in the speech?” And he’d say, “Oh, God no! You can’t use that. I’m just telling you that.” And he wouldn’t let me use any of it! I pleaded, “Sir, give me something here!” I think he knew he would get very emotional while talking about it, and he didn’t want that to happen.

So we ended up deciding that the message of the speech I was working on, one of four speeches given that day, was to convey to his fellow veterans that it was time to bury the hatchet with Japan. One of his first acts as President was to attend the funeral of Emperor Hirohito — the same emperor who was on the throne when Bush’s plane got shot down over the Japanese island of Chichi Jima on Sept. 2, 1944; he survived but his two crewman died. The President thought it was important to send the message to all of the veterans of Pearl Harbor who were still alive that he did not bear any grudge against the Emperor because of his own personal experiences during the war. He had forgiven the Japanese, and it was time for them to as well. It was a uniquely appropriate speech for George Bush to give having survived being shot down.

I would make the argument that survivor’s guilt was what motivated him to public service and to build his amazing career. He wanted to show that his life was in gratitude for surviving and to repay his colleagues who didn’t make it. He wanted to make his life worthy of their sacrifices. And he did. What a remarkable life he led.

As told to Olivia B. Waxman as part of a presidential-history partnership between TIME History and the University of Virginia’s Miller Center of Public Affairs. Mary Kate Cary is a former speechwriter for George H.W. Bush’s administration and a Senior Fellow at the Miller Center.

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Write to Mary Kate Cary at [email protected]

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George H.W. Bush Was A Man In The Middle, Says Former Speechwriter

Rachel Martin talks to Andrew Ferguson, ex-speechwriter for the former president and now with The Weekly Standard , about how the Bush presidency impacted the identity of the Republican Party.

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NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

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‘Brave, kind, and modest’: Senior speechwriter remembers George H. W. Bush

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Curt Smith is a senior lecturer in the Department of English. He was a speechwriter for President George H. W. Bush in the White House from 1989 to 1993 and wrote more speeches for Bush than anyone else.

George Herbert Walker Bush was a son, husband, father, grandfather, pioneering businessman, global diplomat, forty-first President of the United States, Commander in Chief of a great liberation, war hero in America’s Greatest War, and last President of America’s Greatest Generation—and friend. He also embodied the way the world has historically seen America.

George Bush was brave, kind, and modest. He was generous, loyal, and honest. He knew sorrow—daughter Robin, dying at four, of leukemia; wife Barbara’s recent death. He also knew a lifetime’s joy of priorities: “family, faith, and friends.” His mother taught him to treat people equally—“Now, George,” she said, referencing the great hymn, “none of this ‘How Great Thou Art’ business.” Raised in an age of Tom Mix and Andy Hardy, he really did become The All-American Kid who lived the All-American Life.

President Bush said his three years in the Navy did more to shape his life than anything before or since. He was seventeen the day Pearl Harbor was attacked: December 7, 1941, a Sunday. Friends were among the 2,403 Americans who died. Next day he tried to enlist. Too young, he joined the day he turned eighteen—the Navy’s youngest aviator, almost dying when his plane was shot down. Many thought of that at Pearl’s half-century anniversary, in 1991, when President Bush courageously gave an emotional speech he feared he could not complete without breaking down.

“May God bless the United States,” he ended, whispering the words, “the most wondrous land on earth.”  For ninety-four years George H. W. Bush blessed the United States of America. May God bless him, and He will.

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George W. Bush’s portraits of veterans are heading to Disney World

This photo provided by the George W. Bush Presidential Center shows former President George W. Bush working on a portrait of service members and veterans. The George W. Bush Institute is loaning the 60 color portraits by the former U.S. president to Walt Disney World. The paintings of service members and veterans will be on display for a year starting next month at Epcot’s American Adventure pavilion. (Courtesy of the George W. Bush Presidential Center via AP)

This photo provided by the George W. Bush Presidential Center, portraits of service members and veterans painted by former President George W. Bush are on display. The George W. Bush Institute is loaning the 60 color portraits by the former U.S. president to Walt Disney World. The paintings of service members and veterans will be on display for a year starting next month at Epcot’s American Adventure pavilion. (Courtesy of the George W. Bush Presidential Center via AP)

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LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — Walt Disney World will host dozens of portraits of service members and veterans from the nation’s Painter-in-Chief.

The George W. Bush Institute will loan the 60 color portraits by the former U.S. president to the Florida theme park resort. The paintings of service members and veterans will be displayed for a year at Epcot’s American Adventure pavilion starting next month.

Accompanying each painting is a veteran biography written by the former president. The exhibit also will include information and resources created to support veterans and their families.

“My hope is that those who have the opportunity to see this special exhibit will also remember the leadership, service and sacrifice behind each of the heroes painted and the unique challenges our servicemembers and their families face when transitioning out of the military,” said Ken Hersh, president and CEO of the George W. Bush Presidential Center.

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Biden Honors Prominent Democrats With Presidential Medal of Freedom

Six months before the election, the president selected a list of awardees heavy with political allies like Nancy Pelosi, James E. Clyburn and John F. Kerry.

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By Peter Baker

Reporting from Washington

President Biden awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom on Friday to a host of prominent Americans, including several of his most important political allies like former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, former Secretary of State John F. Kerry and Representative James E. Clyburn of South Carolina.

With an election six months away, Mr. Biden assembled a list of 19 people to honor that was heavy with major Democratic Party figures and others he has worked with over the years, including former Vice President Al Gore and former Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg of New York. The one well-known Republican to be honored is former Senator Elizabeth Dole of North Carolina.

“Today, we have another extraordinary honor,” Mr. Biden said at a ceremony in the East Room of the White House, noting that he was bestowing the nation’s highest civilian honor on “19 incredible people whose relentless curiosity, inventiveness, ingenuity and hope kept faith in a better tomorrow.”

The medal was established in its current form by President John F. Kennedy and meant to honor “any person who has made an especially meritorious contribution” to national security, world peace or “cultural or other significant public or private endeavors,” as the original executive order put it.

Aside from political recipients, the president selected a handful of well-known figures from the worlds of civil rights, sports, entertainment and space exploration.

Among the honorees were Clarence B. Jones, a civil rights activist who helped draft the “I Have a Dream” speech delivered by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at the March on Washington in 1963; Opal Lee , an educator who in 2016, at age 89, walked from her home in Texas to Washington to lobby to make Juneteenth a federally recognized holiday marking the end of slavery; and Judy Shepard , who helped found the Matthew Shepard Foundation to combat anti-gay hate crimes after her son was brutally murdered in 1998.

Others recognized on Friday included the Rev. Gregory J. Boyle, a Jesuit priest and the founder of Homeboy Industries , the gang-intervention and rehabilitation program active in Los Angeles; and Teresa Romero, the president of the United Farm Workers and the first Latina to lead a national union.

The cultural and athletic figures honored were Michelle Yeoh, the first Asian to win the Academy Award for best actress; Katie Ledecky, the seven-time Olympic gold medal winner and most decorated female swimmer in history; and Phil Donahue, one of the pioneers of daytime talk shows .

Mr. Biden also selected a couple of trailblazing figures from the space field: the astronaut Ellen Ochoa, the first Hispanic woman to leave the planet and second female director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center; and the astronomer Jane Rigby, the chief scientist of the James Webb Space Telescope .

Three awardees received the medal posthumously: Medgar Evers, the civil rights leader whose murder in 1963 shocked the nation and galvanized the movement to end racial discrimination; Jim Thorpe, the first Native American to win an Olympic gold medal; and former Senator Frank R. Lautenberg, Democrat of New Jersey, a longtime colleague of Mr. Biden’s in Congress.

The ceremony on Friday was a chance for Mr. Biden to thank certain allies who helped him at key moments. Ms. Pelosi, who still represents California in the House after stepping down as speaker, was critical to passing some of the most important legislation of the Biden presidency, including programs to rebuild infrastructure, combat climate change, lower prescription drug costs and raise corporate taxes.

Mr. Kerry, the Democratic presidential nominee in 2004, served with Mr. Biden in the Senate for years and as secretary of state during President Barack Obama’s administration when Mr. Biden was vice president. Until recently, Mr. Kerry served as Mr. Biden’s special envoy for climate .

Mr. Clyburn, a longtime member of the House Democratic leadership, may have been more important than any other single ally in propelling Mr. Biden to the White House with his well-timed endorsement in the 2020 Democratic primaries that turned around the campaign.

Among those Mr. Biden beat that year for the nomination was Mr. Bloomberg, the billionaire former three-term mayor, who endorsed Mr. Biden when he dropped out and has been an ally on shared priorities like climate change.

Like Mr. Biden, Mr. Gore is a former senator who served as vice president for eight years. Since leaving office, he has shared a Nobel Peace Prize for his work on climate change. But he also served as a reminder of the tradition of conceding elections after a loss, a pointed jab at former President Donald J. Trump, who just this week again refused to commit to accepting the results of this year’s election if he loses.

Mr. Gore won the national popular vote in 2000 but lost a razor-thin contest in Florida by just 537 votes to give the Electoral College edge to George W. Bush, a Republican. After a Supreme Court ruling ended the recount in Florida, Mr. Gore made a gracious concession to Mr. Bush — and did not try to use his role as vice president to overturn the results as Mr. Trump tried to pressure his own vice president, Mike Pence, to do in 2020.

Mr. Biden’s one nod across the aisle on the medal list was Ms. Dole, who served as secretary of transportation for President Ronald Reagan, secretary of labor for President George H.W. Bush and president of the American Red Cross before winning election to the Senate from North Carolina in 2002.

Her own campaign for the presidency started with much promise but flamed out before the Republican primaries began in 2000. Her husband, former Senator Robert J. Dole of Kansas, was the party’s 1996 presidential nominee, losing the general election to Bill Clinton, a Democrat. Mr. Dole was the only living Republican presidential nominee to support Mr. Trump for president and died at 98 in 2021.

The Elizabeth Dole Foundation released a statement on Friday thanking Mr. Biden for the honor: “The foundation deeply appreciates President Biden’s decision to bestow this award upon Senator Dole, celebrating her lifetime of leadership and service and rightly placing her among those extraordinary Americans who have changed the course of history.”

Peter Baker is the chief White House correspondent for The Times. He has covered the last five presidents and sometimes writes analytical pieces that place presidents and their administrations in a larger context and historical framework. More about Peter Baker

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Biden gives Katie Ledecky, Michelle Yeoh the Medal of Freedom

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Estonia summons Russian embassy chief over GPS jamming

Estonia's foreign ministry has summoned the head of the Russian embassy in Tallinn to protest the jamming of GPS signals, the Baltic country said on Wednesday.

Ukraine said on Wednesday it was producing the same number of deep strike drones as Russia, claiming to have reached parity on a key type of weapon that Moscow has used for long-range attacks for much of its invasion.