Earlier this summer, the America 250 celebration centered around 1776 events. The 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, in contrast, recalls recent vintage.

Epoch-shaping moments anchor our memories to personal geography when they occur. Many Americans still remember exactly where they were and what they were doing when they heard the news that JFK had been shot, or when Elvis Presley died.

On this date in 2001, I was driving back home after dropping my kids off to school when my wife called to tell me a plane had crashed into one of the Twin Tower buildings in New York City. We saw the second plane hit on live TV a few minutes later.

Memories of horror about Sept. 11 are accompanied, and mitigated, by recollections of remarkable national unity in the days afterward.

George W. Bush set the all-time Gallup Poll record for presidential approval rating at 90 percent on Sept. 22. Congress' approval rating, which had never exceeded 60 percent, spiked to 84 percent as Americans "rallied 'round the flag."

A quarter-century later, it's important to recall more than just memories in the reckoning of what's happened to our country. Toppled buildings can get rebuilt, but the destruction of public trust and confidence by governmental and political mismanagement is harder to restore.

The state of the union in 2001 wasn't ideal. The controversial 2000 presidential election was still a sore spot for Democrats, and........

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