As we honor the lives of those lost in the 9/11 attacks 23 years ago today, we look back at the moment President George W. Bush learned that the deadliest terror attack on US soil was taking place.
On the morning of September 11, 2001, the former POTUS was sat in front of a classroom full of children during a visit to Emma E. Booker Elementary School in Sarasota, Florida.
At 8:46AM, New Yorkers watched in horror as Flight 11 crashed into the World Trade Center’s North Tower.
As reports of the attacks began to flood in, President Bush was being photographed and filmed reading a book to young students.
At 9:03AM, Flight 175 crashed into the World Trade Center’s South Tower.
Two minutes later, Bush’s chief of staff had to inform the President what had happened.
In a room filled with students, teachers, and photographers, Card leaned over to the President during a reading exercise and whispered two chilling sentences into his ear.
“Andy Card comes up behind me and says, ‘Second plane has hit the second tower. America’s under attack’…and I’m watching a child read,” Bush recalled in the BBC documentary 9/11: Inside the President’s War Room.
“I could see the horror etched on the face of the news people who had just gotten the same news.”
Card later reflected on the difficulty of his task. “I had to deliver a message that the President didn’t expect to hear, and that was almost unbelievable,” he said. “But it also, literally, was the message that he had to hear. Whether he wanted to or not.”
Footage of this historical moment shows Bush maintaining his composure despite the gravity of the news. Apart from a few nervous glances and tightening his grip on the children’s book, he remained poised.
“During a crisis, it’s really important to set a tone and not to panic,” Bush explained.
“So I waited for the appropriate moment to leave the classroom – I didn’t want to do anything dramatic. I didn’t want to lurch out of the chair and scare the classroom full of children, so I waited.”
After leaving the classroom, Bush’s team converted it into a makeshift command center in another classroom, where he addressed the nation before boarding Air Force One.
“Obviously, the words I used with the president were grave words,” Card said. “When you say America is under attack, that’s a pretty serious comment to tell the person responsible for protecting the country. So I knew the situation was serious – grave – and that there were a lot of things unknown. But nevertheless, I tried to be very, very deliberate and focused and cool, calm and collected.”
By the time they boarded Air Force One, the attack on the Pentagon had occurred, and United Airlines Flight 93 was heading towards Washington, D.C.
“We were going through all those emotions,” Card recounted.
At 9:37AM, Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon.
At 10:02AM, Flight 93 – where passengers had started to fight back against the hijackers – crashed into a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
As a result of the attacks, 2,977 innocent people lost their lives – with thousands more injured. Over the last 23 years, hundreds more have died as a result of health implications that were the direct result of the 9/11 attacks.
We must never forget.
