The Homeland Security was the brainchild of Liebermann in the Senate with help of McCain.
Bush didn’t want it in the first place!
But he signed it.
Bush could have set the tone that we will not let the terrorists win by changing our way of life, or limiting our own freedoms at home.
But he didn’t. Most certainly not by his actions.
Let’s not forget that much of what Bush did was to try to overcompensate politically for 9/11 happening on his watch. His response was to overreach in many ways, so Americans could see he was “doing something.”