Without Precedent
The Inside Story of the 9/11 Commission
by Thomas H. Kean and Lee H. Hamilton
Alfred A. Knopf

“The catastrophe, which had gradually begun to fade from America’s memory as the country and the world moved on, was again present and raw. The implications of the policy failures we had identified were now horrifyingly illustrated. The reason why the ten of us were sitting on a dais in a hearing room in Washington, D.C. was no longer remote.” — Without Precedent: The Inside Story of the 9/11 Commission

When Thomas H. Kean, and Lee H. Hamilton agreed to co-chair the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States—the 9/11 Commission—they knew they had accepted an assignment of great historical importance, yet they also suspected they had been set up to fail. Blocked for months by the White House, given an inadequate budget and viewed with distrust by the victims’ families, the Commission somehow managed to succeed beyond all expectation. Their hearings riveted the nation and their highly respected final report became a national best seller. Most importantly, the Commission’s recommendations ultimately led to the most significant reform of the country’s national security agencies in decades. In Without Precedent: the Inside Story of the 9/11 Commission, by Thomas H. Kean, past governor of New Jersey and a member of the Carnegie Corporation board of trustees, and Lee H. Hamilton, former U.S. representative from Indiana, the two co-chairs offer a compelling view of the commission’s obstacle-strewn path to ultimate success. Other books produced with Corporation support, focusing on Islam, globalization, intelligence or strategies for reconciling Arab and American journalism, are also profiled in this issue of the Carnegie Reporter and online.