George W. Bush

==== September 11, 2001, attacks ====
{{Main|September 11 attacks}}
[[File:FEMA - 3905 - Photograph by SFC Thomas R. Roberts taken on 09-14-2001 in New York.jpg|thumb|left|President Bush, beside firefighter [[Bob Beckwith]], addressing rescue workers at the [[World Trade Center site]]]]

The September 11 terrorist attacks were a major turning point in Bush's presidency. That evening, he addressed the nation from the [[Oval Office]], promising a strong response to the attacks. He also emphasized the need for the nation to come together and comfort the families of the victims. Three days after the attacks, Bush visited [[World Trade Center site|Ground Zero]] and met with Mayor [[Rudy Giuliani]], firefighters, police officers, and volunteers. Bush addressed the gathering via a megaphone while standing on rubble: "I can hear you. The rest of the world hears you. And the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2001/09/20010914-9.html |date=September 14, 2001 |title=President Bush Salutes Heroes in New York |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100420061531/http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2001/09/20010914-9.html |archive-date=April 20, 2010 |access-date=June 23, 2009 |via=[[NARA|National Archives]] |publisher=[[White House]] }}</ref>

{{listen
| filename     = Bush Addresses Congress 9-20-01.ogg
| title        = President Bush declares "freedom at war with fear", September 20, 2001
| type         = speech
}}
In a September 20 speech, Bush condemned [[Osama bin Laden]] and his organization [[al-Qaeda]], and issued an ultimatum to the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, where bin Laden was operating, to "hand over the terrorists, or{{nbs}}... share in their fate".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2001/09/20010920-8.html |date=September 20, 2001 |title=Address to a Joint Session of Congress and the American People |access-date=June 23, 2009 |archive-date=May 27, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090527194111/http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2001/09/20010920-8.html |via=[[NARA|National Archives]] |publisher=[[White House]] }}</ref> The Taliban's leader, [[Mullah Omar]], refused to hand over bin Laden.<ref name="Peter Bergen">{{cite news |author=Peter Bergen |date=August 21, 2015 |title=The man who wouldn't hand over bin Laden to the U.S. |publisher=CNN |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2015/07/29/opinions/bergen-mullah-omar/ |access-date=September 12, 2016 |archive-date=December 14, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161214082005/http://edition.cnn.com/2015/07/29/opinions/bergen-mullah-omar |url-status=live }}</ref>

The continued presence of U.S. troops in [[Saudi Arabia]] after the 1991 [[Gulf War]] was one of the stated motivations behind the September 11 attacks. In 2003, [[Operation Southern Watch|the U.S. withdrew]] most of its troops from Saudi Arabia.<ref>{{cite news|date=April 29, 2003|title=US pulls out of Saudi Arabia|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2984547.stm|work=BBC News|access-date=February 7, 2022|archive-date=May 21, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190521195120/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2984547.stm|url-status=live}}</ref>
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