Eleven days after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge became the first Director of the Office of Homeland Security. The office coordinated a comprehensive national strategy to safeguard against terrorism and respond to any future attacks. With the  Homeland Security Act in November 2002, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) formally came into being. On March 1, 2003 it became a stand-alone, cabinet-level department, coordinating and unifying national homeland security efforts. DHS integrated 22 different federal ...