The Post-9-11 Shift in Public Attitudes
The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, stunned the U.S. population and the world and altered
the American people’s perspective on their government, especially for a period of time immediately
afterwards as they focused and reflected on images and news stories of the attacks and the
uncertain implications for the nation (Gross, Brewer, & Aday, 2009). Dramatic images and stories
in the media featured firemen, policemen, and other first responders to the attacks, as represented
by a widely circulated photograph of three New York City fire fighters solemnly raising the U.S.
flag on a mound of debris from the collapsed World Trade Center (see Figure 1). Other public
servants and officials were frequently depicted as playing heroic roles in responding to the attacks
and in protecting and informing a fearful citizenry in the aftermath. A month after the attacks, the
U.S. military went to war in Afghanistan with broad public support (Eichenburg, 2005).
Polling data suggest that a large shift occurred in the American public’s attitudes toward government
leaders and institutions in the wake of the attacks (Chanley, 2002; Gross et al., 2009). As
Figure 2 shows, presidential approval ratings (as measured by the Gallup Poll) skyrocketed from
about 50% just prior to 9-11 to about 90% in the months just after the attacks (PollingReport.com,
n.d.). Presidential job approval ratings remained above 70% for much of 2002, after which they
began a steady decline (reaching lows of around 30% by the end of George W. Bush’s presidency