A Day That Will Live In Infamy: How Front Pages Covered Terrorism

"’Today, our nation saw evil,’ said President George W. Bush, who vowed retaliation.”

September 11, 2001. A day that will live in infamy. Frequently compared to the Japanese surprise bombing of Pearl Harbor, this act of terror would shake the entire country and leave Americans searching for answers and demanding retaliation. The attack, “orchestrated by Al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden,” involved hijacking planes and crashing them into buildings. Two of the four planes hijacked collided with the World Trade Center, a third plane crashed into the pentagon, and the final plane was crashed into a field in Pennsylvania after a struggle between the passengers and hijackers. This front page from the San Francisco Examiner reflects the feelings of most Americans on that tragic day. The simple layout, featuring a short headline and sub-headline and a massive picture, speaks volumes. The bold headlines simply exclaims “BASTARDS!,” a clear demonstration of the rage and anger felt by the American people. The image, showing one of the planes impacting the World Trade Center and the ensuing fireball, showed the severity of the situation. The sub-headline is again a simple statement that summarizes the feeling that the country would be changed by this event. The point of this front page was to illustrate the anger felt by many Americans and to draw attention to the horrific events that had taken place.
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