With the 10th anniversary of 9/11 approaching, the country is reflecting on a national story, one that transformed the U.S. in many ways. But that national story is also made up of a million personal stories that had made the tragedy resonate, and perhaps, transformed us in many ways.
"George W. Bush: The 9/11 Interview" (10 tonight, National Geographic Channel) explores the president's story, which has the distinction of being both a personal one and a national one. In the end, we're left with a telling portrait of a leader reflecting on a moment that shaped his leadership.
The former president starts at the beginning of the day with a morning jog, and then a visit to an elementary school. On the way he hears about the first plane hitting the first tower, and he reveals that his first thoughts were that the weather must be bad or something went really wrong with the pilot. Both are perfectly normal thoughts, but they also reveal the complete lack of intel the U.S. had about threats against the nation. An attack, literally and figuratively, wasn't on our radar.
Later, while he's listening to the childrens' lesson, he's told about the second plane and that the nation is under attack. Bush says the contrast between the innocent children before him and the aggression of the act clarified things for him: his job was to protect people.
It's an interesting admission; his critics have often termed Bush and his policies as 'paternalistic.' Yet going into that protective mode, at least in the beginning, seemed to be exactly what the country wanted, maybe needed.
What also becomes clear during the interview is Bush's strong respect for the office of the presidency. He speaks of himself in the job almost in the third person; for instance, putting him in a bunker wasn't about his safety, but the president's safety. It would be the ultimate coup if the terrorists managed to kill America's leader.
Bush also speaks of 'the fog of war,' meaning all the uncertainty during that time, and how Ground Zero from the sky looked like 'a giant scar.'
It's hard not to notice that on 9/11 the president had some gray hair but looked pretty young. The man telling the story, of course, is a decade older and therefore, grayer. But it's hard not to wonder how much of that gray started the day he was transformed into a war-time president.
Assistant Features Editor Adrienne Johnson Martin would like to have her life turned into an animated cartoon. 
