Four Former Presidents Reunite in Downtown NYC to Attend 9/11 Memorial Ceremony

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Add to Google 25th Anniversary of Sept. 11: Moment of Silence Marks First Attack 03:52 Share Add to Google As the nation marks the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, four former U.S. presidents attended New York City's commemorative ceremony.

Former presidents Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Joe Biden were present at the somber ceremony at the National Sept. 11 Memorial in downtown Manhattan. They were also joined by former first ladies, Hillary Clinton, Michelle Obama, Laura Bush and Jill Biden.

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Several other officials and politicians, including Vice President JD Vance and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, were also in attendance.

At the memorial, the former presidents stood up solemnly as a youth choir sang the national anthem.

Though none of the four made public remarks at the ceremony, some of the former presidents recently shared their thoughts and reflections on the tragedy.

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In a statement posted on social media, Bill Clinton said that "we can't erase the nightmare that so many have lived through and are still living with today."

"But we can support the people who have given and lost so much by treating one another with respect, in person and online, and recognizing that what we have in common is far more important than what divides us," Clinton said in the statement shared on X .

Former President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama shared a statement on social media in remembrance of Sept. 11, 2001.

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In the statement, the Obamas said that they are "remembering those we lost that day and those who made the ultimate sacrifice in the wars that followed." They also said that they are praying for the families who lost loved ones that day.

On Sept. 9 at the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas, Former President George W. Bush recalled his first message to the nation following the terrorist attacks in 2001.

Bush was visiting schoolchildren in Florida when he was told by an aide that a second plane had hit the World Trade Center in Manhattan.

"I didn't have much time to process that, but it was pretty clear to me that if we were under attack, then my job was to defend the child that was reading to me, and her family, and her country," Bush said, according to a broadcast of the event by C-SPAN .

"In this case, I became a wartime president," he added.

Rosie Colosi Rosie Colosi lives in New Jersey and is a reporter for TODAY Parents. She has bylines in The Atlantic, The Week, MSNBC, and PureWow, and she has written 33 nonfiction children's books for Scholastic, Klutz, and Nat Geo Kids. Once upon a time, she played Mrs. Claus in "The Rockettes' Radio City Christmas Spectacular," but now she mostly sings songs from "Annie" to her two daughters … while they beg her to play Kidz Bop.

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