On September 10th 2001, then Senator Biden spoke at the National Press Club in DC and issued a stern warning. He was frustrated that the Bush administration was moving away from long standing arms control agreements for a “go it alone” attitude that emphasized “star wars” technology for detecting and eliminating nuclear missiles over more nuanced approaches that saw other risks as important.
Biden noted that the Joint Chiefs of Staff had said “a strategic nuclear attack is less likely than a regional conflict, a major theater of war, terrorist attacks at home or aboard, or any number of real worries.” Biden raised concerns that money was being diverted away for less likely outcomes while ”the real threat comes to this country in the hold of a ship, the belly of plane, or smuggled into a city in the middle of the night in the vial of a backpack.” He returned to Delaware that night.
The next morning, on his Amtrak to DC, he heard about the attacks on the towers.
As the train arrived, Biden could see a brown haze of smoke beyond the capital dome. He began running towards the steps of the Senate. “I was really insistent on getting in” he said later “because I thought it was awfully important that the Senate be in session. That people see us. That they could turn on their TV and see where we were.”
Although Biden could not get into the Senate building due to concerns about another plane, he gave a television reporter a brief interview calling for calm from outside the building. He said congress would be going back into session soon and he had heard that the president was coming back to Washington.
Later, Bush called Biden and thanked him for saying just the right things on TV. Biden implored Bush to come back to Washington to send a message to the American people that their government was strong but Bush told Biden that his security people would not allow it and he was going to an undisclosed safe spot in the Midwest.
Biden also tried to get the Senate leaders to call the Senate back for the same reason, but to no avail.
Although he couldn’t get back into the Senate, Biden didn’t want to wait to push back against the growing public animosity towards Muslims. Biden went to a Muslim mosque in Newark where he spoke to a packed house and said “whoever is guilty of these terrible crimes, whether it is Osama bin Laden or somebody else, one thing is certain: by his very actions, by killing thousands of innocent people he proved that he is no true Muslim.”
Biden’s actions during the 9/11 crisis showed that Biden will be able to lead in a time of crisis. He was able to see that the threat existed before it occurred. He was brave during a moment of crisis. And he swiftly turned to denounce prejudice.
Joe Biden will be a great president.
This is Day 91 in my series 100 Days of Loving Joe Biden
Did you miss any of the 100 days? Here are links for all of them:
- Day 63: Biden ran his very first campaign in 1972 on the issues that are still central to us today -- voting rights, civil rights, crime, clean water and air, pension protection, and health care.
- Day 64: Biden has worked for campaign finance reform for his whole career. He can bring real change as president.
- Day 65: Biden surrounds himself with a diverse group of advisors and plans to do so in the White House as well. Representation matters.
- Day 66: Biden has a great plan for dealing with Iran
- Day 67: Biden has an aggressive plan to fight climate change
- Day 68: Even when you disagree with Biden, you will know that his heart is in the right place.
- Day 69: Biden loved the Biden/Obama memes which shows us more evidence of the person Joe is — someone fun, who can laugh at himself, and who values his friendship with another man enough to want to enjoy reminders of that bond.
- Day 70: Biden is running for president for the right reasons. Trump’s “very fine people on both sides” response to Charlottesville, motivated him to run. Biden is running for president because he loves our country too much to stand on the sidelines and not do all he can to save it
- Day 71: Joe Biden doesn't hold personal grudges. He has the maturity to see that every slight or misstep is not about him and that gives him the ability to focus on what really needs to be done for the good of the country.
- Day 72: Biden believes in democracy. Throughout his 40 years of public service, he has repeatedly shown that he sees elected office as a sacred trust where you work to make people’s lives better. He will fight like hell for that now, after November 3rd, and after his inauguration as our 46th president.
- Day 73: Joe has championed funding and application of basic and applied science for his entire career.
- Day 74: Biden has a great plan for Puerto Rico
- Day 75: Biden is not an elitist
- Day 76: Biden will nominate great justices
- Day 77: Biden is just the right mix of pragmatic and idealistic
- Day 78: Biden supports the rights of transgender people
- Day 79: Biden won’t have anyone from the fossil fuel industry (or any lobbyists) on his transition team
- Day 80: Biden is responsible for funding to provide the MRAP vehicles that saved many lives.
- Day 81: Biden is a progressive in the true sense of the word. Being a progressive means not just wanting our society to progress to a better place (which he does), but being listen to other people, learn, and change.
- Day 82: Biden will unite us. In the political speech of his life in Gettysburg, he acknowledged awful injustice and inequality; spoke of a country torn apart; and promised leadership that listens, and cares, and works to bring us together
- Day 83: Joe Biden loves and respects strong women. Women are making greater and greater strides in public service and a president who welcomes and celebrates that will be amazing.
- Day 84: Biden has great plans for sustainable farming that will help farming, farmers, and the environment.
- Day 85: Experts agree that Biden’s plan is best for economic growth
- Day 86: Biden has a plan to help the American automobile industry that is good for the industry, for workers, and for the planet.
- Day 87: Healthcare is personal to Biden. He was sworn in as Senator by the hospital beds of his two sons after his wife and daughter died in a car crash. When his son Beau was at the final stages of his battle with cancer, he and Jill considered taking a second mortgage out on his house to help with expenses. Biden fought for the ACA and he will fight like hell to make sure that every American has affordable healthcare.
- Day 88: Biden’s parents taught him that the mark of a person wasn’t whether they got knocked down, it was whether they got back up. Biden gets back up. He did it when his wife and daughter died, he did it when his son died, he did it when failed professionally. Joe Biden gets back up and he will lead America as we get back up as well.
- Day 89: Biden is creating a coalition that could change American politics for the better — one in which appeals to the labor branch of the party are firmly entwined with appeals to racial justice and environmental responsibility. Dionne calls this labor liberalism for the 21st century and argues that it could revolutionize American politics. I argue that it can bring people together and get things done
- Day 90: One thread that has gone through Joe Biden's entire life -- both political and personal -- is an abhorrence of those who abuse their power. It was integral in his early championship of civil rights, his long standing dedication to fighting against violence against women, and his relationships with his family, employees, and constituents.