Presidential Lessons in Talking About Terror

President Obama’s decision “to step before cameras despite sketchy information about what happened in Boston just over three hours earlier, clearly reflected lessons learned from the series of terrorist attacks early in his administration: the potential cost of keeping a low profile and waiting is greater than the risk of speaking too soon,” Politico reports.

“However, the content of his three-and-a-half-minute speech Monday–in particular his notable aversion to labeling the incident as ‘terror’ or ‘terrorism’–seemed to reflect a continuing desire not to stoke fears or make premature public judgments even as he made sure to offer the public presence that he’d initially avoided during his first experiences managing terrorist attacks as president.”