ABSTRACT
In Decision Points, George W. Bush records his feelings when he first learned of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on 9/11. This chapter describes certain films to explore American presidential anger to reinforce the theme of national, racial, gendered, and political difference around a fault line of anger. The majority of Decision Points shows an almost unflappable Abraham Lincoln, spinning homey yarns while others erupt in argument. One important line of narrative distinguishes between the justified anger that accompanies the kind of moral outrage displayed by President Bush and the emotion that characterizes the motivations of those who threaten the president and the nation. The chapter argues that an intimate connection has developed between the presidency and post-9/11 America, not only in terms of the increased power of the presidency but also in terms of how presidents' expressions of emotions come to stand in for those of the nation.
