Video footage has captured the poignant moment when former US President George W. Bush was informed about the 9/11 attacks.
The day that saw four coordinated terrorist attacks orchestrated by the Islamist extremist group al-Qaeda is a vivid memory for many.
On this significant day, two planes were deliberately flown into the North and South Twin Towers of the World Trade Center Complex in New York, while a third plane struck the Pentagon, and a fourth crashed into a field in western Pennsylvania. During these events, President George Bush was visiting an elementary school in Sarasota, Florida.
Bush, who served as the 43rd President from 2001 to 2009, had already been made aware that a plane had hit the World Trade Center before arriving at Emma E. Booker Elementary School that morning. At that point, he believed it was merely a ‘pilot error.’
It wasn’t until he was seated in a classroom, preparing to participate in a reading session, that he grasped the magnitude of the crisis. This harrowing moment was captured on camera.
The footage depicts Bush getting settled and preparing to read a book titled The Pet Goat. However, the White House’s chief of staff at the time, Andrew Card, then approaches.
Card is seen leaning in and whispering to the president: “A second plane hit the second tower. America is under attack.”
Card later recounted the moment he had to inform Bush of the attack.
In a 2021 interview with Sky News, he said: “I looked at the president and I honestly believe he was thinking about the burden that he accepted when he took the oath of office. I like to say that’s when he became the president.”
Following this revelation, President Bush remained seated and continued with the children’s reading exercise for another seven minutes.
He would later come to understand the full extent of the tragedy, which resulted in the tragic loss of nearly 3,000 lives.
Card added: “I was very impressed that he did nothing to introduce fear to those students.”
“He did nothing to demonstrate fear to the media that would’ve satisfied terrorists all around the world.”
Bush also reflected on this moment in the 2021 BBC documentary, 9/11: Inside the President’s War Room.
He explained: “Andy Card comes up behind me and says, ‘Second plane has hit the second tower. America is under attack.'”
“And I’m watching a child read.”
“And I see the press in the back of the room beginning to get the same message that I just got.”
“I could see the horror etched on their face of the news people who just got the same news.”
“And so I watched 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.”
“And so I waited.”
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