By 2011, a decade after 9-11, the hot flame of national unity that erupted in the wake of the terrorist attacks had been reduced to a dull and quickly dying ember. But that May it briefly flared up before extinguishing for good.

Only those who experienced it can appreciate how remarkably the nation came together in 2001 after terrorists commandeered commercial airplanes and flew three of them into the World Trade Towers and the Pentagon. A fourth attempt failed because of the heroism of the passengers. The attacks killed about 3,000 people.

Just 10 months before those attacks, George W. Bush had won the presidency. Unlike the concocted dispute of 2020, Bush’s 2000 victory was truly controversial. The Democrat, Vice President Al Gore, won the popular vote, but Bush captured the electoral college majority. It had come down to Florida and deciphering the punch-card ballots there. If a ballot was not fully punched, leaving a “hanging chad,” should the vote count? Ballots were counted, recounted and argued about by an army of lawyers. The Supreme Court, on a 5-4 vote, settled the matter, siding with Bush. No one can ever say with certainty who won. The official tally shows Bush winning Florida by 537 votes out of about six million cast.

Gore gracefully accepted the court’s verdict and attended the Bush inaugural. Not surprisingly, however, the nation was deeply divided, with many of those who backed Gore convinced he had been cheated out of the presidency.

Yet, shortly after the attacks and Bush’s vow to respond, his approval rating soared to an unprecedented 90%. He was the president. The nation had been attacked. Citizens united behind his efforts to respond and protect the country.

Ten years later, things were much changed. Democrat Barack Obama had succeeded Bush as president and a massive fissure in our body politic was in place and expanding. The tea party, the precursor of the rise of Donald Trump and his MAGA movement, had zero interest in unity. Nothing Obama could accomplish would appease the tea partiers. Obama would receive no credit from them for helping dig the country out of another crisis that concluded the Bush years — the big-bank collapse and Great Recession — or for working with his party to provide health coverage for tens of millions of uninsured citizens.

But in May, 12 years ago, Obama’s administration accomplished what Bush’s had not. Special forces cornered and killed al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, the man most responsible for 9-11 attacks, at his Pakistan hideaway.

I witnessed the brief flicker of renewed unity that resulted.

On May 2, 2011, I arrived in Washington, D.C., for a two-day conference at the State Department, set to start the next day and organized by the National Conference of Editorial Writers. The group, of which I was a member, has passed into history, another casualty of the decline of newspapers.

The annual conference provided a chance for editorial writers from across the country to hear from and question top diplomats about U.S. foreign policy goals, challenges, and disputes around the world. For an opinion editor from a small newspaper in New London, Connecticut, it was a great opportunity.

After supper and a beer, I had settled in for the night — or so I thought — in my street-level hotel room near the White House. After going over the topics for the next day’s conference, doing some research, and planning my Metro route to the State Department, I put on my pj’s and flipped on a baseball game.

Within minutes a bulletin interrupted. The White House was soon to make a major announcement, the news anchor said somberly. Special U.S. forces had killed bin Laden.

“Incredible,” I recall thinking. “I guess the itinerary for the meeting tomorrow is going to change.”

What a time to be in Washington. What a time to be going to a State Department briefing.

Then I heard noises outside my hotel window. Pushing aside the curtains, I saw people streaming by, some carrying signs. I would soon learn they were headed to the White House in a large, spontaneous demonstration to celebrate Bin Laden’s death.

Dressing quickly, I exited the hotel into what was now a parade-like stream of people filling the street and sidewalks. I didn’t have to know where to head, I just followed the crowd. Arriving, I saw the streets surrounding the White House filled with what seemed like tens of thousands of people cheering and chanting about the fact that justice had finally been done.

There was something surreal about the scene and all these people out late at night celebrating the death of a man. But having lived through the attacks of Sept. 11, it was understandable. “CIA, CIA, CIA!” chanted the crowd. It may be the first and last time that chant will be heard. I went into reporter mode and called the newsroom, dictating a firsthand story over the phone about the events unfolding outside the White House.

I worked my way back to the hotel sometime around 1:30 in the morning. Six hours later, with little sleep, I was at the State Department. All in attendance were abuzz. We were told to expect a surprise guest. Soon after, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the former first lady and future presidential candidate, arrived. She certainly had not been on the agenda!

Attendees heard from Clinton about how allies had reacted to the news, about the geopolitical implications, and why Bin Laden’s body was buried at sea. The Obama administration feared that a bin Laden land-based grave would become a shrine for his followers, Clinton told us.

In the wake of the successful operation, Obama received a bump in approval, but it didn’t win over his critics. Some conservative commenters gave him credit for acting on the intelligence information about bin Laden, but then quickly returned to tearing down his agenda.

It turned out to be the last big 9-11 story and the last gasp of unity.

Paul Choiniere is the former editorial page editor of The Day, now retired. He can be reached at paulchoiniere@yahoo.com.