Bush on 9/11

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Bush on 9/11

When American Airlines Flight 11 hit the North Tower of the World Trade Center at 8:46 a.m., only the FAA knew about the hijacking. No one else in the Federal government, including President George W. Bush, the staff traveling with him, and staff at the White House.

Education week

The event at Emma E. Booker Elementary School was part of a series of events for "Education week". The previous day, Bush was in Jacksonville, Florida, where he spoke at a school there.

Plans for the week

At a press briefing the previous Friday, press secretary Ari Fleischer detailed Bush's plans for the week:

Q Ari, can you tell us about -- preview education week for us?

MR. FLEISCHER: Yes, let me get you the week ahead. I promise not to use the words "OMB" or "CBO" on the entire week ahead.

The President will launch an initiative beginning tonight and it will continue into next week that is a reminder of the importance of reading throughout America. He and Mrs. Bush will give a series of remarks and will also, in the case of the President, remind the Congress of the importance of sending the education package to the White House so that we can improve our public schools.

Specifically -- and now let me give you the entire events for the week -- the President on Sunday will participate in a coin toss to kick off the NFL season. That will take place in the Rose Garden on Sunday afternoon.

On Monday, the President will go to the Navy Yard with the Prime Minister of Australia for an event and he'll have a working lunch and a meeting with the Prime Minister in the White House. In the afternoon on Monday, the President will continue his focus on reading and education when he travels to Jacksonville, Florida, and then on to Sarasota, Florida.

He'll return to the White House on Tuesday afternoon, where he will host, in the evening, the Congressional Barbecue on the South Lawn. Also on Tuesday, Mrs. Bush will make remarks on early child cognitive development to Senator Kennedy's committee.

On Thursday, President and Mrs. Bush will make remarks at the White House Assembly on Reading at the Library of Congress. And on Friday, the President will help dedicate the Eisenhower Executive Office Building and he'll host a reception in honor of Diez y Seis before departing for Camp David.[1]

Jacksonville

On Monday, Bush spoke about education at Justina Elementary School in Jacksonville.[2] "It's time to wage war on illiteracy for the young, and to whip this problem," said Bush, seated on a stool in an elementary school auditorium. "Reading is not a partisan issue," said the president, seated among children, parents and politicians. "Getting every child to read in America is an American issue, and it ought to be an American goal."[3]

Morning of September 11

Andrew Card informs the President of the second plane crash, and that it is a terrorist attack
Andrew Card informs the President of the second plane crash, and that it is a terrorist attack
President Bush gathers information about the attack
President Bush gathers information about the attack
President Bush turns to watch live coverage of the attacks
President Bush turns to watch live coverage of the attacks

Bush spent the night at Longboat Key, and began the day there with a 4 1/2-mile jog around the golf course.[4] When the first plane crashed, the president was arriving at Emma E. Booker Elementary School, which is located in one of the poorest neighborhoods in Sarasota, Florida. There, Bush was to read to Ms. Sandra Kay Daniels' second-grade class and talk about education.[4]

Awareness of the incident

Most federal agencies learned about the incident from CNN and other television broadcasts, and not from the FAA. Even the FAA, the administrator, Jane Garvey, and her acting deputy, Monte Belger, had not been told of a confirmed hijacking before they learned from television that a plane had crashed.

Initial information about the incident was sketchy at best. Upon arriving, the President was with Andrew Card, the White House Chief of Staff, when Karl Rove first informed them that a small, twin-engine plane had crashed into the World Trade Center. The President's reaction was that the incident must have been caused by pilot error. At 8:55, before entering the classroom, the President spoke to National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice, who was at the White House. She recalled first telling the President it was a twin-engine aircraft-and then a commercial aircraft-that had struck the World Trade Center, adding "that's all we know right now, Mr. President."

Press Secretary Ari Fleischer noted that "After the first plane hit, the president was planning to give remarks saying that he was saddened by what had happened in New York and that he was offering the full resources of the federal government to deal with the tragedy. We thought a plane had flown off course, and it was a terrible accident. Offering help in that way was the logical thing to do and say."[5]

At the White House

At the White House, Vice President Dick Cheney had just sat down for a meeting when his assistant told him to turn on his television because a plane had struck the North Tower of the World Trade Center. The Vice President was wondering "how the hell could a plane hit the World Trade Center" when he saw the second aircraft strike the South Tower.

Elsewhere in the White House, a series of 9:00 meetings was about to begin. In the absence of information that the crash was anything other than an accident, the White House staff monitored the news as they went ahead with their regular schedules.

When they learned a second plane had struck the World Trade Center, nearly everyone in the White House told us, they immediately knew it was not an accident. The Secret Service initiated a number of security enhancements around the White House complex. The officials who issued these orders did not know that there were additional hijacked aircraft, or that one such aircraft was en route to Washington. These measures were precautionary steps taken because of the strikes in New York.

At Emma E. Booker Elementary School

The President was seated in a classroom when, at 9:05, Andrew Card whispered to him: "A second plane hit the second tower. America is under attack. Ari Fleischer was there, and was handed a piece of paper that said the same thing. Fleischer quickly wrote out, in big letters on a note pad, "DON'T SAY ANYTHING YET". He maneuvered so that his back was to the press pool as he showed the sign to the president. The President gave a little nod in assent. The press was standing behind the children, when their phones and pagers start to ring. Fleischer gave orders to the press pool there to get out of the room.[5]

The President remained in the classroom for another five to seven minutes, while the children continued reading. The President said that his instinct was to project calm, not to have the country see an excited reaction at a moment of crisis, and that he should project strength and calm until he could better understand what was happening. As he left the room, he said to the class, "You're such good readers, you must be in the sixth grade." Fleischer explained that the President didn't want to alarm the kids, who didn't know anything that was happening, so he kept his mood the same for them.[5]

He then returned to a holding room shortly before 9:15, where he was briefed by staff and saw television coverage. The president, Dan Bartlett, and Fleischer worked on the remarks that the President would make.[5] Then Bush went into the school's gym, where he had been planning to give a speech. There, he made a brief statement from the school before leaving for the airport.

Departure

The Secret Service was anxious to move the President to a safer location, but did not think it imperative for him to run out the door. Between 9:15 and 9:30, the staff was busy arranging a return to Washington, while the President consulted his senior advisers about his remarks. No one in the traveling party had any information during this time that other aircraft were hijacked or missing. Staff was in contact with the White House Situation Room, but as far as we could determine, no one with the President was in contact with the Pentagon. The focus was on the President's statement to the nation. The only decision made during this time was to return to Washington.

The President's motorcade departed at 9:35, and arrived at the airport between 9:42 and 9:45. During the ride the President learned about the attack on the Pentagon. He boarded the aircraft, asked the Secret Service about the safety of his family, and called the Vice President. According to notes of the call, at about 9:45 the President told the Vice President: "Sounds like we have a minor war going on here, I heard about the Pentagon. We're at war . . . some-body's going to pay."

About this time, Card, the lead Secret Service agent, the President's military aide, and the pilot were conferring on a possible destination for Air Force One. The Secret Service agent felt strongly that the situation in Washington was too unstable for the President to return there, and Card agreed. The President strongly wanted to return to Washington and only grudgingly agreed to go elsewhere. The issue was still undecided when the President conferred with the Vice President at about the time Air Force One was taking off. The Vice President recalled urging the President not to return to Washington. Air Force One departed at about 9:54 without any fixed destination. The objective was to get up in the air-as fast and as high as possible-and then decide where to go.

References

  1. ↑ Press Briefing by Ari Fleischer. White House (September 7, 2001).
  2. ↑ Ross, Sonya. "Bush takes aim at illiteracy", The Star-Ledger, September 11, 2001.
  3. ↑ Silva, Mark. "President Pledges Support for Reading", Sun-Sentinel, September 11, 2001.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Silva, Mark. "'Terrorism Against Nation Will Not Stand'", Sun-Sentinel, September 11, 2001.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 "Voices of 9-11:'God Bless You, Mr. President'", The National Journal, August 31, 2002.

More references

  • 9/11 Commission Report - Chapter 1
  • George W. Bush on 9/11 - photographs
  • 5-Minute Video - George W. Bush on the Morning of 9/11
  • Sarasota school reflects on its role in history The Associated Press State & Local Wire August 19, 2002
  • Sammon, Bill (2002) Fighting Back: The War on Terrorism from Inside the Bush White House, Regnery Publishing, Inc.

Remarks by the President

After 9/11

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