U.S. presidents mark 20 years since 9/11

Presidents Joe Biden, Barack Obama, and Bill Clinton gathered at the National September 11 Memorial in New York on Saturday to commemorate the anniversary of the nation’s worst terrorist attack. Each man wore a blue ribbon and held his hand over his heart as a procession marched a flag through the memorial before hundreds of people, some carrying photos of loved ones lost in the tragedy. The hasty U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, where the men who planned the Sept. 11 attacks sheltered, has increased fears of terrorism in the United States.

How else did the nation commemorate the day? Former President Donald Trump visited a fire station and police precinct in New York. George W. Bush, who was president when the attacks occurred, spoke at a memorial near Shanksville, Pa., where passengers brought down a hijacked plane that was headed for the U.S. Capitol on Sept. 11, 2001. “On America’s day of trial and grief, I saw millions of people instinctively grab for a neighbor’s hand, and rally for the cause of one another,” he said. “That is the America I know.”

Dig deeper: Watch WORLD Watch’s special episode explaining how the 9/11 attacks changed the world.