Bush creates Office of Homeland Security, Oct. 8, 2001
Acting less than a month after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, on this day President George W. Bush announced the formation of the Office of Homeland Security.
The official announcement said that “the mission of the office will be to develop and coordinate the implementation of a comprehensive national strategy to secure the United States from terrorist threats or attacks” and that “the office will coordinate the executive branch’s efforts to detect, prepare for, prevent, protect against, respond to, and recover from terrorist attacks within the United States.”
Former Pennsylvania Republican Gov. Tom Ridge began his duties as director of the newly established office on this day in 2001.
With congressional approval, the Department of Homeland Security was established on Nov. 25, 2002, under the provisions of the newly enacted Homeland Security Act. The goal was to consolidate many U.S. executive branch organizations related to “homeland security” into a single Cabinet agency. In all, 22 agencies were incorporated into the new department.
Its creation marked the most substantial reorganization of federal agencies since the National Security Act of 1947, which placed all military departments under a secretary of defense while creating the National Security Council and Central Intelligence Agency.
Before Bush signed the bill, Congress had grappled with the issue of whether the FBI and/or the CIA should be incorporated in part or in whole into the new department. The lawmakers decided that neither would be placed under the new governmental umbrella.
As signed by Bush, the legislation also stripped some 180,000 government employees of their union rights. White House officials maintained that the Sept. 11 attacks made it imperative to drop union protection for the new department’s staff. For the most part, these restrictions were ultimately overturned by the federal courts.
Ridge was named secretary on Jan. 24, 2003. He announced his resignation on Nov. 30, 2004, after Bush had won a second term. The president initially nominated former New York City Police Department Commissioner Bernard Kerik as Ridge’s successor, but on Dec. 10, Kerik withdrew his nomination, citing personal reasons and saying it “would not be in the best interests” of the country for him to pursue the post.
On Jan. 11, 2005, Bush nominated federal Judge Michael Chertoff to succeed Ridge. The Senate confirmed Chertoff on Feb. 15, 2005, by a vote of 98–0 and he was sworn in on the same day.
SOURCE: WWW.DHS.GOV