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George W. Bush on September 11, 2001 (last updated August 29, 2004)
The movie questions President George W. Bush's explanation of what he was doing upon being informed of the second attack on the World Trade Center and why he remained in an elementary-school classroom for five to seven more minutes. This is an account of how Bush spent all of September 11, 2001.
As for why Bush stayed in the classroom after being told of the attacks, he has defended this decision. The 9-11 Commission reported that Bush "told us his instinct was to project calm, not to have the country see an excited reaction at a moment of crisis. The press was standing behind the children in the classroom; he saw their phones and pagers start to ring. The President felt he should project strength and calm until he could better understand what was happening."
| 8:55 a.m.
| Bush was on his way to a photo opportunity at the Emma E. Booker elementary school in Sarasota, Florida when he was informed of the first collision (American Airlines Flight 11) into the World Trade Center. He was standing outside the classroom when advisor Karl Rove told him that a small, twin-engine plane had crashed into the World Trade Center. Bush then talked at 8:55 a.m. to National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice, who was at the White House. Rice told Bush that the plane had been a twin-engine aircraft and then told him that the plane was a commercial aircraft, and that that was all that was known at the time. Bush believed that the collision was due to pilot error and proceeded into the classroom.
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| 9:05 a.m.
| Bush was then informed of the second collision (United Airlines Flight 175) at 9:05 a.m. Bob Woodward reported in "Bush at War" that Bush thought at that precise moment that "they had declared war on us, and I made up my mind at that moment that we were going to war."
As shown in Fahrenheit 9/11, Bush then waited five to seven minutes before leaving the classroom.
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| 9:15 a.m.
| Bush left the classroom and went to a holding room shortly before 9:15 a.m. He was then briefed by staff, saw television coverage, and spoke with Vice President Dick Cheney, advisor Condoleezza Rice, New York Governor George Pataki, and FBI Director Robert Mueller.
Bush then decided to make a brief statement from the school and spent the next 15 minutes consulting his advisors about his remarks. Bush and the people with him had no contact with the Pentagon during these 15 minutes, although staff was in contact with the White House Situation Room which counterterrorism chief Richard Clarke was leading at the time. "The focus was on the President's statement to the nation," the 9/11 Commission reported. "The only decision made during this time was to return to Washington."
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| 9:30 a.m.
| Bush gave his statement at 9:30 a.m. (on-line here) then left the school at 9:35 a.m. for the airport. American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon at 9:37 a.m.
Bush arrived at the airport around 9:42 a.m., boarded the aircraft, asked the Secret Service about his family, and called Cheney. Around 9:45 a.m., Bush told Cheney: "Sounds like we have a minor war going on here, I heard about the Pentagon. We're at war … somebody's going to pay."
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| 10 a.m.
| Bush did not stay on the phone with Cheney but had several phone calls with him during the next few hours. Cheney called Bush around 10 a.m. Both told the 9/11 Commission that the call was about the rules of engagement for an Air Force combat air patrol that had just gone up over Washington D.C. The 9/11 Commission reported that Bush "emphasized to us that he had authorized the shootdown of hijacked aircraft."
United Airlines Flight 93 crashed at 10:03 a.m., due in some way to the actions of the passengers on board.
Bush agreed while in the air to delay returning to Washington in order to ensure continuity of government. Air Force One arrived sometime around noon at Barksdale, Louisiana. He then gave another statement at 12:36 p.m., then flew on Air Force One to Nebraska. He convened a meeting of the National Security Council at 3:30 p.m. from Nebraska, then took Air Force One back to Washington D.C.
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| 6:30 p.m.
| Bush returned to the Oval Office around 6:30 p.m. and prepared for his final public address of the day, which he gave at 8:30 p.m. In this address, he set forth what has been called the Bush Doctrine - "We will make no distinction between the terrorists who committed these acts and those who harbor them."
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| 9:30 p.m.
| Afterwards, Bush chaired another National Security Council meeting after the address and then had a meeting with senior advisors at 9:30 p.m.
Bush ended the day by dictating an entry for his daily diary, as his father had done when president. Bush said: "The Pearl Harbor of the 21st century took place today."
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Sources: The Final Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States (July 2004). Bob Woodward, Bush at War (Simon & Schuster, 2002). The Emma E. Booker elementary school has a webpage on Bush's visit on-line here.
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Sept. 11, 2001
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