Rhya Wang /Staff reporter
On November 2, 2004, George W. Bush was re-elected president of the United States. Bush was re-elected to a second term in the 2004 presidential election, defeating Democratic Senator John Kerry in a close race.
In 2020, Joe Biden defeated Donald Trump and elected the 59th president of the United States. It seems that Donald Trump is the most disliked president in the world today, but 17 years ago, when President George W. Bush was seeking his re-election, he was almost in the same situation as Trump.
But he was re-elected. George W. Bush won re-election because he firmly grasped one of the main themes of his campaign: counterterrorism.
During his first term, in 2001. September 11 attacks happened, caused 2,996 death and missing. He also made a speech at Oval Office, Washington. D.C on that day. “ On that morning, 19 al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four commercial passenger jet airliners. The hijackers crashed two of the airliners into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, killing everyone on board and many others working in the buildings. The hijackers crashed a third airliner into The Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia. The fourth plane crashed into a field in rural Pennsylvania. Nearly 3000 victims lost their lives in the attacks. On the night of September 11, George W. Bush addressed the nation in a speech that has become very well-known,” according to “George W. Bush 9/11 Address to the Nation. ”
However, after 9/11, instead of care about economic growth or climate change, many people were concerned about national security and whether terrorists would attack the United States again. So the main theme of George W.Bush’s campaign was counterterrorism, and his slogan is “ A Safer World and a More Hopeful America. Steady Leadership in Times of Change. ”
Source：
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_W._Bush
http://www.georgewbushlibrary.smu.edu/
https://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/gwbush911addresstothenation.htm
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