Former Vice President Mike Pence, at the time a freshman member of Congress, recalls walking out to a beautiful blue sky in the nation’s capital the morning of Sept. 11, 2001.
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Then the rumblings began about an airplane hitting a tower in New York City. By the time he arrived at his office, people were abuzz with talk of terrorism. Next, a staffer announced that a plane had struck the Pentagon – less than a mile from their office.
Former Vice President Mike Pence speaks at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library & Museum in Simi Valley, Calif., on Wednesday, September 9, 2026. Pence was there to promote his book, “What Conservatives Believe: Rediscovering the Conservative Conscience.” (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Former Vice President Mike Pence speaks at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library & Museum in Simi Valley, Calif., on Wednesday, September 9, 2026. Pence was there to promote his book, “What Conservatives Believe: Rediscovering the Conservative Conscience.” (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Former Vice President Mike Pence speaks at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library & Museum in Simi Valley, Calif., on Wednesday, September 9, 2026. Pence was there to promote his book, “What Conservatives Believe: Rediscovering the Conservative Conscience.” (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Pence, who recounted the details during an event at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library & Museum in Simi Valley on Wednesday evening, Sept. 9, recalled ending up in the Capitol Hill police chief’s office with congressional leaders from both parties later that day, where they received news that another plane headed toward the U.S. Capitol was about 12 minutes away.
“At that point, a room that had been divided politically – Republicans were over on this side, Democrats were over on this side – suddenly became quiet,” Pence said.
About 15 minutes later, they received an update: An aircraft had crashed in Pennsylvania.
The tragedies aside, Pence said what happened next still fills him with hope.
“In that moment, there were no more Republicans in that room. There were no more Democrats in that room. There was just Americans,” he said, recalling how people rolled up their sleeves, united in the task of figuring out what to do next.
“That spirit animated Washington, D.C. for months,” Pence continued.
Twenty-five years later, the former vice president said he believes the majority of Americans long for civility in politics again.
Pence, who served as vice president during President Donald Trump’s first term, was in Southern California on Wednesday to promote his book, “What Conservatives Believe: Rediscovering the Conservative Conscience,” which was released in June.
During a conversation with Melissa Giller, the chief marketing and cultural programming officer for the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation & Institute, Pence said today’s Democratic Party is being overtaken by a progressive left and an embrace of socialism.
At the same time, he criticized members of his own Republican Party who are part of what he called the “populist right,” saying they embrace isolationism and having the United States pull back its role in the world.
He spoke of his support for traditional, conservative values and defined “conservatism” as a respect for long-established institutions, values that “have made families and communities work” and the Constitution.
“It’s essential that we focus on what we’re for before we focus on who we’re for in 2028,” Pence said.
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“It’s incumbent on Republicans to decide whether we’re going to continue to hew to our roots, the traditional conservative agenda, or whether we’re going to follow the siren song on populism,” he added.
During the nearly hourlong conversation, the former vice president said he’s “incredibly” proud of what the Trump-Pence administration accomplished.
“One of the best kept secrets in America may well be that Donald Trump actually listens,” Pence said. “And he and I had a great working relationship right up to the end.”
Pence fell out of favor with Trump when he certified the results of the 2020 presidential election and recognized Joe Biden as the winner of that election. He did not endorse Trump for reelection in 2024.
This week, Pence offered both praises and criticisms of Trump’s second term.
The former vice president commended the current Trump administration for securing the country’s southern border and for “standing up to Iran as no administration has ever done before” and for standing in support of Israel.
At the same time, Pence was critical of Trump’s implementation of broad-based tariffs.
He also lamented the “stops and starts” when it comes to the United States’ support for Ukraine in its war with Russia.
Asked if voters might see him back at the Reagan Presidential Library for a future Republican presidential candidates debate, Pence – who participated in such a debate at that same venue in 2023 before he dropped out of the 2024 presidential race – indicated that was unlikely.
“I don’t think (my wife) Karen and I sense that we’ll be back on that stage,” Pence said, though he said the couple would “go wherever we feel the Lord’s leading.”
“What I really hope to be,” he added, “is an encouragement to people to hew back to the roots that have defined not only our party, but in many ways, defined our country.”
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