Bush creates an Office of Homeland Security; Tom Ridge takes the job

Twenty-seven days after the September 11 attacks, Washington still had no single office built to coordinate the government's response to terrorism at home. On October 8, 2001, President George W. Bush announced the establishment of the Office of Homeland Security and installed Tom Ridge, the former Pennsylvania governor, as Assistant to the President for Homeland Security. Ridge began his duties that same day, tasked with coordinating the government's response to terrorism across federal agencies. The office had no budget authority and no power to compel other departments to act…