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The 9/11 attacks had immediate and overwhelming effects upon the people of the United States. Gratitude toward uniformed public-safety
workers (dubbed "first responders"), and especially toward firefighters, was widely expressed in light of both the
drama of the risks taken on the scene and the high death toll among the workers. Many police officers and rescue workers elsewhere
in the country took leaves of absence to travel to New York City to assist in the grim process of recovering bodies from the
twisted remnants of the Twin Towers. Blood donations also saw a surge in the weeks after 9/11.
Numerous incidents of harassment and hate crimes were reported against Middle Easterners and other "Middle Eastern-looking"
people, particularly Sikhs, due to the fact that Sikh males usually wear turbans, which are stereotypically associated with
Muslims in the United States. There were reports of verbal abuse, attacks on mosques and other religious buildings (including
the firebombing of a Hindu temple) and assaults on people, including one murder; Balbir Singh Sodhi was fatally shot on September
15. He, like others, was a Sikh who was mistaken for a Muslim.
Following the attacks, President Bush's job approval rating soared to 86%.On September 20, 2001, the U.S. president spoke
before the nation and a joint session of the United States Congress, regarding the events of that day, the intervening nine
days of rescue and recovery efforts, and his intent in response to those events. In addition, the highly visible role played
by New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani won him high praise nationally and in New York.
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