Part of the history that Mr. Bush won’t be reading can be found in a transcript of his speech from Jackson Square on Sept. 15, 2005, two weeks after Hurricane Katrina. Rather, historians can note the great gulf between the promises made in that speech (examples below) and the inaction that followed. More than fifteen visits to New Orleans and vicinity, which the President repeatedly referred to as “that part of the world,” were not accompanied by a concerted federal effort to rebuild the city and region, its schools and hospitals and housing, its infrastructure, or its storm protection systems whose funding had been repeatedly whittled down by Bush administration budgets before the storm.
hurrican katrina
Tribute and Prayers for Senator Kennedy
Senator Kennedy endorsed Barack Obama on Jan. 28 in an appearance
with Caroline Kennedy and Rep. Patrick Kennedy at American University,
Washington, D.C. Photograph by Brendan Smialowski/New York Times.