It was three days after September 11, 2001 when the motorcade for President George W. Bush made its way towards Ground Zero. There, he would survey the unimaginable wreckage, thank the tireless rescue workers and attempt to inspire the grief-stricken nation. Bob Beckwith, at the time a 69-year-old former New York firefighter whose retirement was interrupted by his overwhelming desire…
That Beckwith, who had retired seven years prior after 30 years with the FDNY, stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the president as the world watched was the result of pure happenstance. Beckwith shared the stage with president that day, but he would have been nowhere near the national spotlight had he failed to convince his family and the National Guard to let him go to Ground Zero.
“My kids are telling me, ‘You’re 69 years old. You’re too old to be down there. Don’t go down there,’” Beckwith said. Word began to circulate that Bush was en route. Hours later, the president had a bullhorn in one hand and his other arm around Beckwith’s shoulder as he addressed rescue workers. One of his six children, Richard Beckwith, was flying from California to his home in Pittsburgh, unaware that his father was standing beside the president.
“It was like Holy cow,” Richard Beckwith said. “I remember going to the store with the family Saturday morning and seeing my dad in the newspapers and saying he is all over the place. It was amazing to see this totally modest individual become a celebrity, per se.”Beckwith receives a Christmas card with a holiday-themed painting on the front every year. Each card gets a presidential signature from its painter, George W.
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