Bush's September 20, 2001 address to Congress formally announced the global war on terrorism and set U.S. foreign policy for years to come.
Key Facts
- Speaker
- President George W. Bush
- Audience
- Joint session of the 107th U.S. Congress
- Date of speech
- September 20, 2001
- Notable attendee
- British Prime Minister Tony Blair
- Afghanistan invasion began
- October 7, 2001
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
The coordinated terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, killed thousands of people on U.S. soil and created immediate pressure on the Bush administration to articulate a national response. Congress convened in emergency session, and allied leaders such as British Prime Minister Tony Blair expressed solidarity with the United States.
On September 20, 2001, President Bush delivered a speech to a joint session of the 107th Congress, announcing an investigation into the attacks and framing the coming conflict as a global war on terrorism. He characterized the struggle as a battle between good and evil and signaled forthcoming policies targeting terrorism and weapons of mass destruction.
The speech is widely regarded as the formal declaration of the global war on terrorism. On October 7, 2001, a U.S.-led coalition launched an invasion of Afghanistan that resulted in the overthrow of the Taliban government, marking the first major military action of a prolonged international campaign.