25 Years After 9/11: Half of Americans Still Call It Their Defining Moment, But Few Plan to Mark the Day

Twenty-five years after the September 11th attacks, a new Ipsos poll finds that about half of American adults still name that day as the most important historic event of their lifetime. That’s more than COVID-19, more than the Obama or Trump elections, more than anything else in a quarter century of American history. The poll of 1,013 adults also found that roughly 9 in 10 say the attacks impacted the country“a great deal”or“quite a bit.”

Yet only about one in ten Americans plan to do anything special to mark Friday’s anniversary. The gap tells its own story. For those who watched the towers fall live, 9/11 is a memory. For Americans under 35, it’s a history lesson. Among younger adults, COVID-19 actually ranks higher as a defining event, and many were too young to remember 2001 at all. One 18-year-old California student told researchers he learned about 9/11 from his parents.

There’s also the question of trust. Gallup finds 55% of Americans now have confidence in the government’s ability to prevent future terrorism, down from 88% in the weeks after the attacks. The memory of that day has held firm. The faith that followed it has not.

How will you spend Friday’s anniversary? Will you attend a ceremony, share the story with your kids, or simply pause and remember quietly? Tell us in the comments.