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).