THE U.S. WOULD HAVE A SANE OIL POLICY
Doris Kearns Goodwin
author, Team of Rivals

Without 9/11, Congress would not have authorized the use of force in Iraq, even with the illusory argument that Saddam possessed weapons of mass destruction. Without a foreign-policy crisis to focus his presidency, domestic issues would have taken priority, and if that were so, President Bush would most likely have lost his bid for reelection. Polls have consistently shown that the domestic priorities of the Bush administration are not shared by the majority of Americans. Without the war in Iraq, it is less likely that John Kerry would have won the nomination since there would not have been a premium on previous war experience and foreign-policy expertise. In that scenario, the most likely Democratic candidate would have been Al Gore. Without 9/11, the memories of the election fiasco in 2000 would have been much stronger, the sense that Gore deserved a second chance much more intense. Had Gore become president, and had he embarked immediately on a Manhattan Project for alternative energy, our country might now be on the road to independence from Middle Eastern oil.

Related:

• Archive: “Cover Story”
• Articles by John Heilemann
• Table of Contents: Aug 21, 2006 issue of New York | Subscribe!

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