Glenn shared a deeply personal regret on radio Thursday, something he's never even told his wife.
"The most personally embarrassing thing I have done since my baptism, when I promised I wouldn't be the man I used to be, came after 9/11," Glenn said.
On 9/13, just days after the devastation of 9/11, Glenn attended a meeting.
"I had a contract to do a national show, but Clear Channel, they couldn't get a hold of the guys in New York. The company was running almost locally, and the people in New York had no time to make any decisions whatsoever," Glenn recalled.
They decided to put Glenn on the air with another host who took a different approach to 9/11.
"I was speaking to the heart; he was speaking to the head. It might have been a good show, but it was not the show that I would have done. And it was very, very frustrating because it's not what I believe the country needed. I think the country needed a hug," Glenn said.
The program director wanted to repeat the show format for the next several weeks while Glenn wanted to go solo.
"I believed in that direction so strongly, and they kept going back and forth. And everybody was calm, except me. I think it was the first time Jeffy ever heard me swear," Glenn said.
He continued.
"I said, 'I don't care what the F you put on the air, but it's not going to be me. And I don't care what it is, but I am not participating in this anymore. And get somebody on the phone that understands what the hell they're doing.' And I remember the program director looked at me in horror and said, 'Do you realize why we can't get them on the phone? Do you know what it's like on the streets of New York?'" Glenn said.
After saying a few more foul things, Glenn walked out of the room.
"That has haunted me. And the reason why it happened --- and I went back and apologized to everybody --- but the reason why it happened is because all of us were at the ultimate level of stress. The pinnacle of stress," Glenn said.
The last couple of years, Glenn has experienced that same kind stress.
"I told my wife six months ago, 'Honey, I'm going to quit. I can't do it anymore. I can't take the stress anymore. My body can't take the stress anymore.' I'm at the pinnacle of my stress. Has anybody noticed that my language has gotten much worse in the last year and a half? I'm swearing now. Not all the time, but I don't usually swear," Glenn said.
Because of that stress, he's been transported back to that day on 9/13 several times --- and it's changed his behavior and course of action.
"It takes a lot of pressure on me before my walls start to get shaky. That's not good enough. At least for me. That's not good enough. I want to be the man who can be in the battlefield and rock solid. Rock solid. I am not that guy. And you know that from listening to me. Because you've heard me snap on the air. I don't like it," Glenn said.
On those days, Glenn thinks of 9/13 and the progress he still wants to make --- especially considering the contentious election we're having.
"In times of ultimate stress, the best thing we can do for each other is understand," Glenn said. "Whatever is going to happen is going to happen. We need to be the strongest, most principled people we can possibly be and hold things together as they are flying apart."
Listen to this segment from The Glenn Beck Program:
Featured Image: A firefighter breaks down after the World Trade Center buildings collapsed September 11, 2001 after two hijacked airplanes slammed into the twin towers in a terrorist attack. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)