ON MY WATCH:  A MEMOIR

by Virginia Buckingham

Blamed for the 9/11 attacks, one woman has to find the courage to be her own hero.

As the nation came together to mourn, to support, and to rebuild in the aftermath of 9/11, Virginia Buckingham was singled out for blame. As the head of Boston’s Logan International Airport, the launching pad for the hijacked planes that destroyed the Twin Towers, she was scapegoated by the media and political leaders for supposed airport security lapses and forced to resign. She was also sued for wrongful death by the family of a 9/11 victim, holding her personally responsible for the terrorist attack.

A rising star at thirty-five, Buckingham had served as chief of staff to two consecutive Massachusetts governors before becoming the first woman to head the state’s Port Authority. But her life and career were suddenly derailed. Grappling with issues of trauma, faith, leadership, and resilience, this unique memoir shares her struggle to rebuild her life and come to terms with being blamed for the unimaginable tragedy that occurred on her watch.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Virginia Buckingham was born in Connecticut and has lived in Massachusetts for nearly forty years. She was the first woman to serve as chief of staff to two consecutive Massachusetts governors. Buckingham was subsequently the first woman appointed to head that state’s Port Authority, operator of Logan International Airport. She has also worked as a deputy editorial page editor and columnist for the Boston Herald. In 2015, she was selected for the inaugural class of Presidential Leadership Scholars, a joint initiative of the presidential libraries of Presidents George H. W. Bush, George W. Bush, William J. Clinton, and Lyndon Johnson.

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Recent Virginia Buckingham Quote

Dated 09/10/26 in the Marblehead Current:

Marblehead resident Virginia Buckingham reflects on healing and resilience 25 years after 9/11

"Twenty-five years after 9/11 upended her life, Marblehead resident Virginia Buckingham says she has reached a place she once might not have imagined: changed forever, yet back to the core of who she is.

The former head of Massport reflects on the long road through blame, grief and healing — and what she has learned about resilience, faith, light, love and hope.

“I’ve been changed forever, and I’ve returned to myself,” she says. “And how lucky am I to be able to say that?”

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