President Bill Clinton had just won reelection. The economy was thriving. The Cold War was over. Truly, Americans had never had it so good.
Then it was all tragically cut short.
President Clinton and the First Lady had arrived in Manila ahead of the 1996 APEC summit. There were several security concerns ahead of the meeting. A bomb had been found mere days before near the summit site, and the State Department issued a security alert for U.S. citizens in the Philippines. Very little attention, however, was given.
It was early in the evening when the report came for most Americans. The first reports of an explosion and a bridge collapse near the APEC meeting site dominated the cable news channels. What followed was what seemed like a very long period of uncertainty. A sudden string of breaking news alerts followed the situation in Manila, but nothing was clear. Was the president involved? Was the president safe? Are there any casualties? Will the APEC summit still go ahead? Until, at around 8:00pm, EST, the official confirmation came through.
After a chaotic situation between Manila and Washington, President Gore sat in the White House's situation room, the most powerful office in the world thrust upon him. An investigation would be ordered immediately, but it didn't take long for the perpetrators to emerge. No group had claimed responsibility yet, but CIA director John Deutch told the president that intelligence determined that the assassination was masterminded by Saudi terrorist Osama bin Laden, leader of the Islamist terror group al-Qaeda. Mere months before, bin Laden had declared a 'holy war' against the United States. Now, he had struck at the head of the U.S. government.
It was a day that shook the world. The news talked of the act of war; a new day of infamy. The frontpage of The New York Times was simply a picture of President Clinton and the First Lady below President Gore's words: "We, as a nation, have bore witness to an unspeakable tragedy. This act of terror was intended to sow chaos in our nation and our government. They did not, and will never, succeed." The assassination had a rather significant impact on entertainment media, with several films being edited. The upcoming film Mars Attacks! was postponed due to a scene showing the death of a fictionalized U.S. president portrayed by Jack Nicholson. The entire nation was in a state of shock, and some anger.
With a monumental task ahead of him, President Gore had to unify the country. The main task was preparing to bring those responsible to justice, and that's what the President vowed to do with the duty bestowed upon him. However, there was still one large hurdle to overcome. A constitutional crisis in the making. President Clinton had been reelected, but he had not been elected by the Electoral College yet.
It was assumed that most Democratic electors would switch their vote to Gore, but that was easier said than done. Some state laws limited the ability of electors to change their vote, and already the court battles were beginning. The last time a presidential candidate died between election day and the electoral college vote was 1872, when losing candidate Horace Greeley died and his electoral votes were scattered among different candidates. Clinton, of course, was no Greeley. The fact that Clinton was an incumbent only made things worse. Inevitably, partisan politics quickly made a return.
Once the nation was over the initial shock, the White House looked for a suitable Vice President to replace Gore on the ticket. A shortlist was released in December, ranging of candidates from congress, governor's mansions, even the military. Even Republicans appeared on this list, including Bob Dole, the man Clinton had defeated only a month ago. But time was running out. Former Clinton campaign representatives were now embroiled in a Supreme Court battle over the legality of electors breaking their pledges. Speaker Newt Gingrich was even advised on the potential of his own succession to the presidency should the electoral college vote be invalidated. Eventually, most electors were allowed to change their vote without penalty, owing to the unique circumstances. The states, ultimately, could not bind electors to a deceased candidate. With the decision, the White House had finally announced Dick Gephardt as Gore's Vice Presidential choice, with only a couple days to spare. Regardless, some electors had interpreted the long wait differently and were publicly supporting other shortlist candidates. It seemed inevitable the Vice Presidential vote was bound for pandemonium.
Gore and Gephardt were now, officially, president-elect and VP-elect. The results were certified by president pro tempore Strom Thurmond in a joint session of congress. Sure, there were a lot of faithless electors that voted against this days old ticket, be it for a variety of reasons: an act of protest against the electoral college or even against the ticket itself. In this situation, it was bound to happen. Luckily for the country, the new Gore-Gephardt ticket had far more than a majority, as expected with the crisis facing America.
With the President receiving authorization for use of military force from Congress, it was clear what was next. Osama bin Laden was now the U.S.'s most wanted fugitive. A man not just responsible for the deaths of the president and first lady, but also the deaths of many hundreds of civilians throughout the world. U.S. intelligence had even seen reason to link him to the 1993 World Trade Center bombings. With the stroke of a pen, President Gore had authorized the arrest or assassination of bin Laden.
But the American people demanded answers. Why was security not sufficient enough? Impassioned speeches by senators and representatives urged the need for a quick and rightful response. Previously viewed as alarmists, the CIA's Bin Laden Unit was finally achieving results. Thanks to the defection of al-Qaeda militant Jamal al-Fadl, the CIA had a full map of al-Qaeda's reach and intentions throughout the globe. As for the whereabouts of bin Laden, he was able to flee from his base in Sudan to Afghanistan, now under Taliban rule and quickly becoming a terrorist safe haven. This was despite U.S. pressure on the Sudanese government to hand him over, before President Clinton's assassination. The Taliban had captured Kabul earlier in the year, proclaiming their 'Islamic Emirate', a mostly unrecognized state. Having explored all options, including a risky CIA plan to capture the al-Qaeda leader, President Gore issued a simple ultimatum to the Taliban: surrender bin Laden and his associates, expel al-Qaeda, or we will have no choice but to seek justice ourselves. The Taliban, predictably, refused.
In January 1997, after applying pressure to Pakistan and other Taliban supporters in the Afghanistan region, the United States initiated Operation Shining Light. President Gore announced the commencement of operations in Afghanistan in an Oval Office address to the nation. In the coming months, President Gore would also announce the creation of a joint Philippine-U.S. task force to combat Islamist forces stationed in the country, such as al-Qaeda and Abu Sayyaf. President Clinton's assassination has certainly changed the course of U.S. history. Political pundits are already referring to the new U.S. military campaigns as a 'war on terrorism', a term the administration discourages.
Then it was all tragically cut short.
President Clinton and the First Lady had arrived in Manila ahead of the 1996 APEC summit. There were several security concerns ahead of the meeting. A bomb had been found mere days before near the summit site, and the State Department issued a security alert for U.S. citizens in the Philippines. Very little attention, however, was given.
It was early in the evening when the report came for most Americans. The first reports of an explosion and a bridge collapse near the APEC meeting site dominated the cable news channels. What followed was what seemed like a very long period of uncertainty. A sudden string of breaking news alerts followed the situation in Manila, but nothing was clear. Was the president involved? Was the president safe? Are there any casualties? Will the APEC summit still go ahead? Until, at around 8:00pm, EST, the official confirmation came through.
"We have now received the official confirmation from Manila: President William Jefferson Clinton, and First Lady Hillary Clinton, died today at 18:30, Eastern Standard Time, 7:30 AM Philippine Time. He was 50, she was 49. Vice President Gore, presumably, will be taking the oath of office to become the 43rd president." - Dan Rather, CBS News
"I, Albert Arnold Gore, do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. So help me God." - Al Gore
"I, Albert Arnold Gore, do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. So help me God." - Al Gore
After a chaotic situation between Manila and Washington, President Gore sat in the White House's situation room, the most powerful office in the world thrust upon him. An investigation would be ordered immediately, but it didn't take long for the perpetrators to emerge. No group had claimed responsibility yet, but CIA director John Deutch told the president that intelligence determined that the assassination was masterminded by Saudi terrorist Osama bin Laden, leader of the Islamist terror group al-Qaeda. Mere months before, bin Laden had declared a 'holy war' against the United States. Now, he had struck at the head of the U.S. government.
It was a day that shook the world. The news talked of the act of war; a new day of infamy. The frontpage of The New York Times was simply a picture of President Clinton and the First Lady below President Gore's words: "We, as a nation, have bore witness to an unspeakable tragedy. This act of terror was intended to sow chaos in our nation and our government. They did not, and will never, succeed." The assassination had a rather significant impact on entertainment media, with several films being edited. The upcoming film Mars Attacks! was postponed due to a scene showing the death of a fictionalized U.S. president portrayed by Jack Nicholson. The entire nation was in a state of shock, and some anger.
With a monumental task ahead of him, President Gore had to unify the country. The main task was preparing to bring those responsible to justice, and that's what the President vowed to do with the duty bestowed upon him. However, there was still one large hurdle to overcome. A constitutional crisis in the making. President Clinton had been reelected, but he had not been elected by the Electoral College yet.
It was assumed that most Democratic electors would switch their vote to Gore, but that was easier said than done. Some state laws limited the ability of electors to change their vote, and already the court battles were beginning. The last time a presidential candidate died between election day and the electoral college vote was 1872, when losing candidate Horace Greeley died and his electoral votes were scattered among different candidates. Clinton, of course, was no Greeley. The fact that Clinton was an incumbent only made things worse. Inevitably, partisan politics quickly made a return.
Once the nation was over the initial shock, the White House looked for a suitable Vice President to replace Gore on the ticket. A shortlist was released in December, ranging of candidates from congress, governor's mansions, even the military. Even Republicans appeared on this list, including Bob Dole, the man Clinton had defeated only a month ago. But time was running out. Former Clinton campaign representatives were now embroiled in a Supreme Court battle over the legality of electors breaking their pledges. Speaker Newt Gingrich was even advised on the potential of his own succession to the presidency should the electoral college vote be invalidated. Eventually, most electors were allowed to change their vote without penalty, owing to the unique circumstances. The states, ultimately, could not bind electors to a deceased candidate. With the decision, the White House had finally announced Dick Gephardt as Gore's Vice Presidential choice, with only a couple days to spare. Regardless, some electors had interpreted the long wait differently and were publicly supporting other shortlist candidates. It seemed inevitable the Vice Presidential vote was bound for pandemonium.
With the President receiving authorization for use of military force from Congress, it was clear what was next. Osama bin Laden was now the U.S.'s most wanted fugitive. A man not just responsible for the deaths of the president and first lady, but also the deaths of many hundreds of civilians throughout the world. U.S. intelligence had even seen reason to link him to the 1993 World Trade Center bombings. With the stroke of a pen, President Gore had authorized the arrest or assassination of bin Laden.
But the American people demanded answers. Why was security not sufficient enough? Impassioned speeches by senators and representatives urged the need for a quick and rightful response. Previously viewed as alarmists, the CIA's Bin Laden Unit was finally achieving results. Thanks to the defection of al-Qaeda militant Jamal al-Fadl, the CIA had a full map of al-Qaeda's reach and intentions throughout the globe. As for the whereabouts of bin Laden, he was able to flee from his base in Sudan to Afghanistan, now under Taliban rule and quickly becoming a terrorist safe haven. This was despite U.S. pressure on the Sudanese government to hand him over, before President Clinton's assassination. The Taliban had captured Kabul earlier in the year, proclaiming their 'Islamic Emirate', a mostly unrecognized state. Having explored all options, including a risky CIA plan to capture the al-Qaeda leader, President Gore issued a simple ultimatum to the Taliban: surrender bin Laden and his associates, expel al-Qaeda, or we will have no choice but to seek justice ourselves. The Taliban, predictably, refused.
In January 1997, after applying pressure to Pakistan and other Taliban supporters in the Afghanistan region, the United States initiated Operation Shining Light. President Gore announced the commencement of operations in Afghanistan in an Oval Office address to the nation. In the coming months, President Gore would also announce the creation of a joint Philippine-U.S. task force to combat Islamist forces stationed in the country, such as al-Qaeda and Abu Sayyaf. President Clinton's assassination has certainly changed the course of U.S. history. Political pundits are already referring to the new U.S. military campaigns as a 'war on terrorism', a term the administration discourages.
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