Sept. 12, 2001: The Last Great Day in America

Remembering Sept. 11, 2001, and the Unity That Followed: Can We Find It Again Without Cataclysmic Events?

With the sun setting behind the Washington Monument, a person holds an American Flag up on the west side of the U.S. Capitol building on Sept. 12, 2001, a day after terrorist attacks in Washington and New York killed thousands. Mark Wilson/Getty Images

Commentary

No one will argue that Sept. 11, 2001, wasn’t the worst day the United States has endured this century—an unspeakable tragedy that brought out an incredible amount of raw emotion, with images and memories forever burned into our brains.