9/11 Quotes: Politicians Share Memories, Reactions To September 11, 2001 (PHOTOS)

A decade after four planes were hijacked and used in an attack against the United States, many are reflecting on the events of Sept. 11, 2001.

In an op-ed for USA Today, President Barack Obama shared his thoughts on American life in the 10 years since 9/11:

Indeed, the last decade has been a challenging one for our country. But we have also seen the strength of the United States -- in cities that have refused to give in to fear; in communities that have persevered through hard economic times; and, above all, in our men and women in uniform and their families who have borne an extraordinary burden for our security and our values.

The perpetrators of those attacks wanted to terrorize us, but they are no match for our resilience. Today, our country is more secure and our enemies are weaker. Yet while we have delivered justice to Osama bin Laden and put al-Qaeda on the path to defeat, we must never waver in the task of protecting our nation.

Other leaders -- including former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and former President George W. Bush -- have also come forward to share their memories of that day and what life has been like for them in the time since. Below, a slideshow of their stories from 9/11 and the decade that followed:

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President Barack Obama

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As he does every year, President Obama has asked Americans to make 9/11 a day of service.

According to Bloomberg, he said that on the 10th anniversary, "we remember that 9/11 was not only an attack on the United States, it was an attack on the world and on the humanity and hopes that we share" in an op-ed for newspapers outside the U.S.

"On this solemn anniversary we join with their families and nations in honoring their memory," Obama wrote.

In his USA Today op-ed, the president shared what his experience was like on Sept. 11, 2001.

Like every American, I'll never forget how I heard the terrible news, on the car radio on my way to work in Chicago. Yet like a lot of younger Americans, our daughters have no memory of that day. Malia was just 3; Sasha was an infant. As they've grown, Michelle and I faced the same challenge as other parents in deciding how to talk with our children about 9/11.

One of the things we've told them is that the worst terrorist attack in American history also brought out the best in our country. Firefighters, police and first responders rushed into danger to save others. Americans came together in candlelight vigils, in our houses of worship and on the steps of the U.S. Capitol. Volunteers lined up to give blood and drove across the country to lend a hand. Schoolchildren donated their savings. Communities, faith groups and businesses collected food and clothing. We were united, as Americans.

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As he does every year, President Obama has asked Americans to make 9/11 a day of service.

According to Bloomberg, he said that on the 10th anniversary, "we remember that 9/11 was not only an attack on the United States, it was an attack on the world and on the humanity and hopes that we share" in an op-ed for newspapers outside the U.S.

"On this solemn anniversary we join with their families and nations in honoring their memory," Obama wrote.

In his USA Today op-ed, the president shared what his experience was like on Sept. 11, 2001.

Like every American, I'll never forget how I heard the terrible news, on the car radio on my way to work in Chicago. Yet like a lot of younger Americans, our daughters have no memory of that day. Malia was just 3; Sasha was an infant. As they've grown, Michelle and I faced the same challenge as other parents in deciding how to talk with our children about 9/11.

One of the things we've told them is that the worst terrorist attack in American history also brought out the best in our country. Firefighters, police and first responders rushed into danger to save others. Americans came together in candlelight vigils, in our houses of worship and on the steps of the U.S. Capitol. Volunteers lined up to give blood and drove across the country to lend a hand. Schoolchildren donated their savings. Communities, faith groups and businesses collected food and clothing. We were united, as Americans.

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Comments

[Stacy Mirkovich]

01:16 AM on 09/26/2011

JUST SO SAD!

[emigholzjr]

01:30 AM on 09/14/2011

Water boarding on one individual 183 times. Enhanced interrogation 183 times. Let’s all pray in our house of GOD. (Maxim security prisons). I have news for everyone; we all go to Heaven or we all go to Hell. It is not Heaven and Hell. It is Heaven or Hell.

[Ariel Finn]

05:00 PM on 09/13/2011

It's disgusting to see politics enter into the comments below. Some people are so stupid and so mean, I wish they would leave the Democratic party. They're sickening!

[Tom Sito]

03:52 AM on 09/13/2011

Today 9-13 is the 10th Anniversary of Bush/Cheney allowing Osama Ben Laden's entire family to be evacuated out of the United States without any questioning, and never giving a reason why.

[amaboss52]

05:21 PM on 09/12/2011

I just can't seem to make myself care what any of the bush admin thinks about anything.

[PoliSci2008]

02:46 PM on 09/12/2011

I couldn't believe FL Obama's thoughtless, selfish remarks about her first reaction on 9/11. Is everything about her daughters, though she doesn't want them covered in the media? Read from AARP:

http://www.aarp.org/giving-back/volunteering/info-07-2011/michelle-obama-jill-biden.html

Q: It's been a decade since the tragic events of 9/11. Where were you that day, and what went through your mind when the towers fell?

Jill Biden: I called Joe and said, "You're not going to believe this." We were just shocked.

Michelle Obama: I'll never forget, because it was Malia's first day of preschool. It was a beautiful, crisp, bright day. And I remember feeling optimistic that my little girl was going off to school, and the world for her was just opening up. We were in the car, and I had NPR on and thought, "What does this mean for my daughter's life now? Has the world fundamentally been changed? Are we now a nation at war?" So for me it was about the future.

Q: What part of the job did you think you wouldn't like but have warmed to over the months?

JB: Speaking!
MO: For me it's sharing my husband with the world. You get a little selfish sometimes. But every time I get irritated, or feel a little lonely or tired, I just think this is our duty. These men are doing a phenomenal service, and they're doing it with dignity and calm.

[amaboss52]

05:13 PM on 09/12/2011

Why is it selfish to first think of the ones closest to you? My first thoughts were of my daughter and grandson, and what this might mean for his future, what it might mean for the countries future.

[PoliSci2008]

05:52 PM on 09/12/2011

Knowing your family is safe, yet to contemplate their future is contempuous to those and their families who paid the ultimate cost, imo.

Knowing my family was safe, my first thoughts were disbief and all those precious lives in the plane and in the building and the terror, suffering & anguish they went through. Some of us have ubiquitous and unselfish love & compassion, and others don't.

[eoagent0007]

12:18 PM on 09/12/2011

Now that the Memorium to Victims is finished and the 10th Anniversary has come to a close, it's time to dial it down. I'm sure that most of the families of these victims would like to move on after 10 years. We can always pause for a minute of silence on future 9/11 dates. Kids will be taught it's history and it's time for the History Channel to provide documentaries on it. The media coverage should stop all the coverage and repeating the same things year after year. It has become exausting. We will never forget, but we shouldn't continue to be so obsessed with it. Life is too short.

[TKCrusher]

11:09 AM on 09/12/2011

Do any of them remember building 7?

[TOPCAT711]

10:50 AM on 09/12/2011

It's 9/12.....

Rudy, you can crawl back under your rock now.

[hungryaardvark]

10:27 AM on 09/12/2011

Bush: "I remember a great story about a little goat, but when I thought about calling Cheney to tell him about it, I glazed over and couldn't remember the number on his princess phone. I thought and thought some more. Finally a Secret Service agent told me, but then I forgot where I put my phone. It was kinda a bad day."

[Sistagirl Young]

12:56 PM on 09/12/2011

Maybe if his head were shaped more like a light bulb, he'd be brighter.

[jtabs]

10:12 AM on 09/12/2011

At the risk of being blasted it seems to me that if this country put forth half the effort and time to try and solve our current problems and plan for the future that it puts in mourning about past tragedies, which could have been mitigated say had the emergency headquarters not been placed in the World Trade Center (an obvious target) and the police and fire department had communication systems that actually talked to one another (simple planning and correction of a known problem) and so on. This is not to say I don't feel and mourn for the losses (I also lost friends and friends children - fire fighter first responders), I just believe that we could make better make use of our outrage.

[maab76]

10:46 AM on 09/12/2011

We could also have had Bush actually read and respond to the messages delivered prior to the attack. The concerns raised by the flight schools in MN & AZ could have been investigated instead of being ignored. Methinks that with the available knowledge and resources we could have prevented the attacks. But then, "intelligence" by any definition does not seem to be a part and parcel of the Republican platform.

[Sistagirl Young]

12:57 PM on 09/12/2011

Only if there's money involved. It's all about the Benjamins.

[Clevelandinwi]

09:45 AM on 09/12/2011

Picture of the towers falling kinda looks like rice's 'mushroom cloud'.

[dollyfedup]

09:35 AM on 09/12/2011

I cried so many times yesterday as I watched the memorial ceremonies and the all day documentaries on the history, and National Geographic channels.

One thing I was disturbed by was how rude the dispatchers were to the people calling from the towers that day. I know they were overwhelmed, but I couldn't believe one dispatcher actually hung up on one person calling from the towers and I didn't understand why they would tell these people to remain where they were instead of trying to get out of the building.

Many of the victims were very young and many had newborn children or very young children. It was such a sad day that will always be remembered.

[toxico]

10:59 AM on 09/12/2011

Well, no one really imagined that the buildings would collapse. Why else would so many firefighters be slogging up the stairs to rescue people?

[vobox3343]

11:24 AM on 09/12/2011

Imagine the terror of being bombed when you had no weapons of mass destruction and weren't responsible for 9/11? We must also think of others not just ourselves. I'm sure that would be God's message to us all.

[Sistagirl Young]

12:59 PM on 09/12/2011

Most people have put GOD on hold.

[splatl]

09:08 AM on 09/12/2011

It is really a shame that a story about remembering the 3000 Americans and the hero's of 9/11 is used by some to bring out the worst of America with partisan bickering. There are plenty of other articles you can use to tear America apart.

[dollyfedup]

09:39 AM on 09/12/2011

Although there is no dispute that the passengers on United 93 were heroic in their efforts and plan to take back the plane, based on statements by Bush, Rumsfeld, and eyewitness accounts of the crash there is a possibility that the plane was actually shot down by fighter jets.

[Sistagirl Young]

01:00 PM on 09/12/2011

Yeah but they're not half as much fun.

[srmmer]

08:53 AM on 09/12/2011

i remember BUSH HAVING THE DEER IN A HEADLIGHTS STARE bush looked like a scared child thats was thinking i just got caught stealing cookies from the cookie jar

[BarryChaLaque]

09:29 AM on 09/12/2011

George Bush and Rudy Giuliani are real heroes of 911.
George W is one of the best Presidents in American history up there with Lincoln and Reagan….

Krugman's hit piece the other day is obvious and him and people like him will be swept into the dust bin of human history, along with obama union thugs, and the Soviet Union…..

[viewfromuphere]

09:55 AM on 09/12/2011

what was the name of that intelligence report again...."Bin Laden determined to attack inside the United States"

there's no way around the Bush adminstration's failure to take the terrorism threat seriously before 9/11/.

Or that it was used to invade a country that had no ties to the attacks or WMD.

[toxico]

11:00 AM on 09/12/2011

You can't be serious.

[LDM123]

09:38 AM on 09/12/2011

I remember when people used to use punctuation...