Bush and Obama, Wars and Economy: Power and People in an Age of Limits and Loss 565One year after the passing of the Patriot Act the Bush administration
announced the formation of a new cabinet-level department, the Department of
Homeland Security [DHS], whose primary purpose was designed to protect the
nation from terrorist attacks. The department took over the activities of the
Office of Homeland Security headed by Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge
that the administration established in the weeks following 9/11. The new DHS
was also given the responsibility of coordinating the federal government’s
response to natural disasters. With such a broad scope of activities, the depart-
ment quickly assumed immense proportions. Eventually employing more than
200,000 people, Homeland Security became the third largest cabinet depart-
ment, behind only the Defense Department and the Department of Veteran
Affairs. The creation of Homeland Security was the largest reorganization of
the government since the passage of the National Security Act in 1947. At
first, one of the most prominent activities of the department was the Homeland
Security Advisory System, the color-coded alert system designed to inform the
American people the extent of the terrorist threat on a daily basis.
Although proponents touted the importance of such an agency in a world
of daily terrorist threats, the department created intense anxiety among
FIGuRE 11-4 Stranded New Orleans citizens after Hurricane Katrina