The Government's Response to the Oklahoma City Bombing

1286 Words3 Pages

The Government's Response to the Oklahoma City Bombing The Oklahoma City Bombing affected many Americans, including the President of the United States. From the start the White House immediately dispatched the FBI. The initial reaction was to close the airports, but that would infringe on civil liberties. Government intervention with this tragedy would help many victims' family members cope with the loss of their loved ones. Presidential response as well as monetary compensation would attribute to the healing process. Since the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building many government actions have been taken to prevent another incident like the Oklahoma City Bombing. President Bill Clinton put aside his own political problems to give the nation response to this tragedy. President Clinton had to choose his words with care while speaking to the media. The Waco tragedy was fresh on the minds of many and all of America would be listening to his reaction to the situation. Clinton was very angry about the tragedy and said that the bombers were "evil cowards" and would be treated like "killers," and he was so gripped with anger that he wanted to put his fist through the television screen when he first saw the incident (Carney 66). Even though Clinton was angry he still dealt with the situation very carefully, knowing that what he said would affect how millions of Americans would cope with the tragedy. An act of terrorism is what lead to the Oklahoma City Bombing, this tragedy happened because someone had different beliefs. What is the government doing about terrorism? An anti-terrorism bill would give the government an additional $1 billion to help... ... middle of paper ... ... of a President." Time 1 May 1995: 65-67. "Cracking Down on Hate." Newsweek May 1995: 20-24. "The Death March." The Progressive August 1997: 8-10. Hoffman, David. "The Oklahoma City Bombing and the Politics of Terror." March 1998: 1-2. 25 Oct 1999 . "LP Warns Anti-terrorism Bill a Danger to U.S." June 1996:1-2. 25 Oct 1999 . "Oklahoma Bombing Conspirator Nicholas Loses Appeal." 12 Oct 1999: 1-2. 25 Oct 1999. . Pierce, Neal R. "Oklahoma City: Fire, in the Ashes." Nations City Weekly 1 April 1996: 13. "Punishment and Mercy." U.S News and World Report 29 Dec 1997: 115. Roebuck, Karen and Gordon Witkin. "Torments that will not end: why Terry Nichols escaped execution." U.S News and World Report 19 Jan 1998: 33. "U.S vs. McVeigh: the biggest murder trial in U.S history has opened in Denver." CurrentEvents 28 April 1997: 1-2

Open Document