Obama's Fort Hood Speech Follows Presidents Past
The president wears many hats — policy chief, political leader, statesman to the world. On Tuesday, at Fort Hood, Texas, President Obama wore the hat of the mourner in chief. His speech followed a long list of presidential addresses at moments of great national pain.
STEVE INSKEEP, host:
As Wade told us, President Obama was mourner-in-chief yesterday. NPR national political correspondent, Mara Liasson, reports on how a president who inherited two wars is handling this role.
MARA LIASSON: President Obama's somber eulogy for the 13 soldiers who died in the massacre at Fort Hood was a rite of passage for the president. Almost every commander-in-chief has a moment like this, where he has to comfort the nation after a horrible loss. As the president said yesterday, the tragedy at Fort Hood occurred at a time of war, yet these Americans did not die on a foreign battlefield - they were killed here on American soil, which makes it even more painful.
President BARACK OBAMA: Long after they are laid to rest, when the fighting is finished and our nation has endured, when today's service men and women are veterans and their children have grown, it will be said that this generation believed - under the most trying of tests - believed in perseverance, not just when it was easy but when it was hard, that they paid the price and bore the burden to secure this nation and stood up for the values that live in the hearts of all free peoples.
LIASSON: Speeches like these can be a president's most memorable, but President Obama is already famous for his ability to deliver an inspiring speech. His words, yesterday, were plainspoken and poetic, and they followed a long line of presidential addresses at moments of national mourning.
After the seven astronauts died in the explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger in 1986, Ronald Reagan addressed the country on television.
Former President RONALD REAGAN: We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them - this morning - as they prepared for their journey and waved goodbye and slipped the surly bonds of earth to touch the face of God.
LIASSON: Sometimes, the president's the eulogy can do more than just soothe a nation. Bill Clinton's strong speech after the bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City in 1995, came after his party had lost both houses of Congress and had helped him regain his political footing.
Former President BILL CLINTON: Let us let our own children know that we will stand against the forces of fear. When there is talk of hatred, let us stand up and talk against it. When there is talk of violence, let us stand up and talk against it. In the face of death, let us honor life.
LIASSON: Just a few weeks ago, President Obama stood - silently - at Dover Air Force Base as the remains of Americans killed in Afghanistan were brought home. And yesterday he acknowledged that his turn as consoler-in-chief came as the nation is at war. That's something he has in common with his predecessor, George W. Bush, whose speech from the Oval Office on the day of the 9/11 attacks rallied the nation and projected an image of strength and compassion.
Former President GEORGE W. BUSH: A great people has been moved to defend a great nation. Terrorist attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of America. These acts shatter steel, but they cannot dent the steel of American resolve.
LIASSON: White House officials said yesterday that President Obama wanted to strike a balance between a firm response to what may end up being defined as an act of terrorism, and a desire to prevent a backlash against Muslims who are serving with distinction in the U.S. military.
Yesterday at Fort Hood, the president did not dismiss the killings as the act of a deranged individual. Instead, he made an indirect reference to extremist Islamic ideology when he said it may be hard to comprehend the twisted logic that lead to this tragedy.
Pres. OBAMA: But this much we do know: no faith justifies these murderous and craven acts, no just and loving God looks upon them with favor. For what he has done, we know that the killer will be met with justice in this world and the next.
LIASSON: The president didn't mention the word Muslim, but he did praise the diversity of the military; man and woman, white, black and brown, of all faiths and stations, all Americans, he said, serving together to protect our people while giving others, half a world away, the chance to lead a better life.
Mara Liasson, NPR News, Washington.
(Soundbite of music, "Taps")
INSKEEP: It's NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright National Public Radio.
