Obama Should Learn from Bush's Mistakes

The Boston Marathon is a popular family event in my hometown of Boston. This time, the party ended in something unfathomable. The bombing occurred on Patriots’ Day, a local holiday on which children and adolescents are free from school. For my own part, I have many happy childhood memories from standing by the side of the road, cheering for the runners. After this, Marathon Monday will never be the same for the people of Boston.

This incident also carries with it a difficult trial for President Barack Obama. During his more than four years in office, Obama has not seen a single major, fully executed act of terrorism. Undoubtedly, the president has handled both natural disasters, like hurricane Sandy, and school massacres like the one in Newtown, well.

The tragedy in Boston, however, is of a different character. The bombings call back difficult memories from Sept. 11 and make it necessary for Obama to truly shoulder the responsibility of leadership.

The way Obama handles the crisis in the coming days will be decisive. There is a risk that he may repeat some of the mistakes made by former President George W. Bush following the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.

Bush made many, by now, well-known blunders in his handling of the Sept. 11 bombings, ranging from not being accessible enough immediately after the event to using curt and strongly condemning language too soon. His response was not in tune with the feelings of a people in shock, nor did it match the requirements of such a grave situation. Instead, the role as spokesman and guide fell on Rudy Giuliani, then mayor of New York, who became “Mayor of America” in Bush’s absence.

So far, Obama has been surprisingly brief and cautious in his statements regarding the event. He has said what you would expect to hear after any accident and used standard phrases expressing his regret at what has happened. Rhetorically, there are even striking similarities between Obama’s first short speech after the Boston attacks and Bush’s first public utterance after Sept. 11, even if Bush was quicker to use words like “terrorism” and “hunting down” perpetrators.

Naturally, Obama does not want to make far-reaching speculations too soon, but many Americans are looking for a concrete message from the president and a clear direction forward. For that reason, many people are looking forward to later today, when Obama will visit Boston for the first time since the events. He is planning to deliver a longer speech where he will hopefully detail his thoughts and plans further.

The difficult tightrope Obama has to walk now consists of showing people that he is prepared to propose concrete actions, without politicizing the situation and causing a right-left polarization too soon. At the same time, Obama should remember that, at a time like this, Americans want a leader who gives support, who is accessible and has the courage to show emotions. In contrast, Bush started off with bad crisis management directly after Sept. 11 and never found the right balance in his “war on terrorism” that was to follow.

Obama has the chance to prove that he has what it takes to lead the American people out of a security crisis. He also has to decide how strongly he wants to tie this to his ongoing grass roots campaign for reformed gun laws in the wake of the school shooting in Newtown. In addition, he has to choose to what extent he wants to follow, or avoid following, in Bush’s footsteps when it comes to how a president should express himself in a crisis like this, and what actions should be taken to avoid similar occurrences in the future.

But right now, Obama’s main task is not to repeat the mistakes Bush made after the terrorist attacks of 2001.