One Nation Under Siege

The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 were the first attacks to hit American soil since the bombing of Pearl Harbor in December 1941. Merely a month after the Twin Towers fell and the Pentagon crumbled, a new threat made its way through the public mailing system: anthrax, a white powder with the power to kill whoever came into contact with it. Together, these two events virtually destroyed the American sense of security and quickly lead to an era of national paranoia that was not wholly unjustified. One Nation Under Siege: Congress, Terrorism, and the Fate of American Democracy explores the impact of terrorism on contemporary American politics and investigates the subsequent internal changes within Congress. Author Jocelyn Jones Evans draws from her personal experience on Capitol Hill as a congressional fellow to illuminate Congress' adaptations as a reaction to the attacks, focusing on jurisdictional changes to the congressional committee system, administrative changes to congressional offices, and environmental and architectural modifications to the Capitol Complex.The resulting national political climate was a struggle as democratic political systems tried to maintain appropriate security measures while preserving public accessibility to the workings of Congress. Incorporating captivating insider perspectives of the 9/11 attacks and the anthrax scare from members of Congress, legislative staff and Capitol Police, Evans chronicles how those working on Capitol Hill experienced the acts and effects of terrorism in 2001 and how they adjusted to prevent it from happening again.One Nation Under Siege is a comprehensive look into the inner workings of Congress and the government during and after these devastating national crises. Evans conducts an unprecedented study with a new level of understanding of governmental processes in the post-9/11 era, providing substantial insight into the resulting social and political changes experienced by American citizens.