Chelsea Clinton Speaks Out for the First Time in a Personal Account of the September 11 Tragedy and Its Aftermath

As she reeled from the tragedy in her midst, Clinton also rallied at the sense of community around her: "I have never felt such a strong sense of belonging…as I did that day. Thousands upon thousands of New Yorkers were moving as one. That’s when I realized that I had become a New Yorker. I expect now that I’ll always be one." Clinton also recounts her eagerness to have her father return to Manhattan and show him around: "I wanted my father there—not only to understand what had happened to the city but also to understand what was happening to me. I knew he would want to connect with everyone who was confused and suffering, including his daughter."

Clinton describes the joy she felt when she was finally reunited with her mother the day after the attacks, and when she saw her father the morning after that. "It was only after I had seen them both that I finally felt secure again in my skin." It was with her father that Clinton first visited ground zero, where she found herself overwheled by the scope of the damage. "The hardest part was walking through the makeshift morgue to thank the clergy members who were there blessing victims’ remains. To this day I can’t imagine where they found the strength and will."

Now studying in Oxford, England, Clinton describes the alienation and difficulty of being away from America at this time. "Every day at some point I encounter some sort of anti-American feeling." But Clinton’s time abroad is also giving her greater insight into her American identity. "For more than 21 years I lived with the assumption that I was safe, with a sense of security so profound I didn’t even know I had it. Today I find myself shocked into a new awareness of how much I loved the country I grew up in."