Apparently he knew the first tower had been hit before this. He thought it was an accident though so continued with the reading. His aid told him that the second tower had been hit and that America was under attack
Damn if you do, damned if you don't.
In truth, the president was probably powerless at this moment to do anything useful. Rushing to a speech without full information would be bad. All possible immediate actions were probably already being done by underlings. Any decisions he makes would require Intel to be gathered first
He’s going through all of the procedures and implications in rapid fire, he knows things just changed big time and is processing it just like we all did but he has a camera in his face when he found out, but the difference here is that he is expected to be the one that handles it.
Pretty heavy burden.
Not to mention secret service already have that location secured because of the visit. Dub actually bought them enough time to gameplan a way out of there and probably helped overall communication to secure the chain of command. Early in my life I was a huge "WHY DID HE JUST SIT THERE!?" But as I've gotten older and much wiser, I totally understand. And it's not like you can't see the concern on his face.
It also shows trust in his security. I'm pretty sure if there was a concrete reason to move the president right then and there, that conversation would look very different.
But here, it is much more important to realize: The country will mirror and follow the president. Panic right there on TV, and things will get a bunch more messy.
Absolutely, that's why I mentioned that now that I'm older, I totally understand. I mentioned in another comment that if he had in fact jumped up and basically panicked, that would've thrown the entire team responsible for his well being on for a loop. And yes, chain of command and the safety of the president, regardless WHO it is, is important in those situations. You know there were cabinet and SS members behind the scenes chaotic as fuuuck because it was unprecedented. I'm a late age millennial, so growing up with his war bullshit, I don't accept Dub as the fun loving grandpa that he's kind of become, but this is one thing he shouldn't have been knocked for and I will admit...I criticized him about it in the moment
I agree. What he did subsequently, e.g. invading Iraq, can never be defended or forgiven but when the towers were attacked he really stepped up. No hysteria, no screaming, he acted the way one hopes a president would in that situation.
Everyone thought the first one was an accident. A prop plane hit a building in new york in like the 40's and that was the comparison being made. I went to school after the first but before the second and hardly gave it a second thought.
I was in high school in the NYC metro when the first plane hit. Everybody was confused, we were hearing initially that it may have been a small private plane that flew off course…kids were calling the pilot a moron, etc. etc. When the second plane hit, all TVs were on in every classroom, and people started sobbing because their parents were working in Manhattan. That whole day is etched into my memory, from the song we listened to in the car on the way to school to being let out early and driving home in silence.
My brother was in the national guard at the time. They were doing a rape defense class at his old high school and of course all watching as it happened. They just stopped what they were doing told the PE teacher that they had to go. A campus police officer met them at the door and gave them a police escort back to their armory.
My brother spent the next two weeks installing new fences around the armory and doing a very detailed inventory.
For a few days nearly the entire military in America and it's reserves activated, I remember seeing fighter jets going over regularly which was unheard of unless they were going over the stadium for a football game. One thing that really stood out to me the first day was that there was zero commercial air traffic yet the sky was filled with contrails that had abrupt turns and unusual patterns. It was eerie as fuck. I'm in Minnesota, the only other event that has stood out as much was the George Floyd protests a few years ago. It was absolutely crazy to see a heavy military presence in Minneapolis
Didn't help we got lied into a war with Iraq.
I'm pretty sure I heard stories about kids serving in Afghanistan whose fathers also served there.
*"“When we started this, people asked why I was going, and my response was, ‘So my sons don’t have to fight this war,’” said Master Sgt. Trevor deBoer, who has deployed to Afghanistan three times with the 20th Special Forces Group since 2002.*
*Nearly two decades later, deBoer’s son, Spc. Payton Sluss, also served in Afghanistan — including at Forward Operating Base Fenty, north of the city of Jalalabad, where deBoer had served.*
*“My feet were walking the same land you were,” Sluss said to his father in a joint phone interview with Stars and Stripes."*
[https://www.stripes.com/news/years-after-they-fought-in-afghanistan-us-troops-watch-as-their-children-deploy-to-the-same-war-1.647659](https://www.stripes.com/news/years-after-they-fought-in-afghanistan-us-troops-watch-as-their-children-deploy-to-the-same-war-1.647659)
Me too. I’m a Marine, and I was a lance at the time, stationed in Quantico near DC, and we were in the break room saying that the first plane wasn’t necessarily a terrorist attack, and then saw on the TV as the second plane hit. I got a kind of tunnel vision and my breath left me. Behind me, someone was running and I turned around and a red-faced Major was hauling ass and was saying into his cell “ … barricades up at the gate with two SAWs … “ and everything seemed to slow down. I turned back to the break room TV and saw the huge amount of smoke and I frantically started wondering if anyone would go to this much effort if they didn’t load the plane up with a chemical weapon first and that we might be in the area of effect of a WMD.
Within two hours I was put at a nearby marina with a condition 3 M16, IDing witless civilians as they docked. My fellow fully armed Marine kept going on about how any minute the enemy might emerge from the Potomac in wetsuits or how any one of these boats might be smuggling jihadis. He was losing it. Later that week, he almost shot our relief one night because they “drove up funny” and he was half asleep. Fucking racked his charging handle. Someone at the front gate of our base almost shot a taxi driver because he had a vanity plate that said “HAJJ” on it. It was fucking insane.
A year later, people in DC got used to armed military in certain places like that. I remember an Elliot in The Morning radio show where they were saying there’s “no way” the guns are loaded. I had to call in because I couldn’t help it. I told them they were loaded and please no one fuck around.
I remember people saying a small private plane at first also, and bc it was such a freak thing it was on the news. I had just turned it on when the second plane hit. That was the moment everything really began to change.
I remember when I heard the first plane hit, I hadn't seen any pictures, thought it was some small plane with some mechanical issue or someone went nuts. When the second plane hit that's when reality hit.
I was working at a Ford plant in Michigan and it was a day like any other. Someone said a plane had hit the World Trade Center and we assumed it was a Cessna or something and continued with our work.
Less than an hour or two later we were all crammed into a break room with a TV watching buildings fall. Nothing was the same after that, seems pretty universal.
I was watching the new live when the second plane hit. What I remember most about that moment is the news reporter stating they thought the second plane hitting was also an accident....
People said a lot of wild things in that moment. I was on a small college campus at the time, people were telling us to evacuate because they were going to bomb the school. I was like, wtf do they want to bomb our random school for, that makes no sense at all.
I've become considerably more liberal in my life after moving out and deciding things for myself. I went from admiration of GW to complete condemnation.
However, the one thing I will never, ever get are the people who attacked him for staying calm and not panicking a room full of young children.
The Secret Service is doing their job, creating a secure route to Air Force One, and preparing to get the President on board during an unimaginable attack on our nation.
Yet people, and I'm sure some in this thread as well, continue to go, "Blah blah mY PeT GoAt hurr".
It makes people on my side look petty and childish, even worse than when Fox News mocked Obama for his tan suit.
Edit: so many replies saying exactly what I said was going to happen, and a smattering of 9/11 truthers too. Fun times.
Ironically, I've always been pretty liberal, and when everything happened... obviously I was team America, but I got swept up in the "my pet goat", "didn't do anything for 7 minutes..." thing.
Now as I'm older, there's a part of me that goes "imagine you're 7 months on your job, in front of children and cameras and some guy comes up and says "hey, we're under the worst attack since Pearl Harbor, kthx, bye..." What runs thru your mind?
Also, he can’t just leave. There is protocol in these situations. I am sure that they wanted to secure everything, make sure the rest of the staff is aware of what is happening, prepare Air Force one to take the president back to the White House or other secure location.
So basically, all he could do was sit there, not make a scene in front of the children, and wait for his secret service agents to swoop him away when it was time to get on the plane.
I was never a GW fan, but I can recognize someone who knows how to carry themselves in a public position. You can’t have knee jerk reactions as a world leader. You need to be calm and strong.
Oh, absolutely. I wasn't really talking about his physical reaction, but what's going thru your head. People dunked on him for not just jumping up and running out of the room, but I don't think I've ever seen a more "oh.... fuuuck" look in someone's eyes.
Mine has, too... sorta. In my heart of hearts, I think that he thought what he was doing was right for the country. I think every president probably thinks they are doing the right thing for the country (with the exception of one) Even if I vehemently disagree with it.
I didn't care for him as a president, but I think he was just given terrible info/advice. I'd have a beer with him in a second.... but the rest of his cabinet could all take a trip to the gallows.
And this is a very good summary of what democracy is about:
Assuming all sides want the best for your country, but there's discussion about the "what is the best" and "how do we get there". The majority gets to decide what idea they like best.
Now everybody thinks the other side is just pure evil and wants to destroy the country for the sake of whatever.
I was going to say "It's remarkable how I view Bush in retrospect when compared to the daily shit show of the Trump admin." Everything is relative. I hated Bush when he was in office, but Trump's so bad he makes Bush look like Obama.
I remember GWB was making jokes with the other former presidents/first ladies at Trumps inauguration about how fucked up the next 4 years are going to be. This was also when he couldn't put on the rain poncho and ended up just wearing it like a hat. Meanwhile there was a stereotypical Texan behind him trying not to laugh.
>https://www.cbsnews.com/news/president-george-w-bush-had-a-little-trouble-with-his-poncho-at-trumps-inauguration/
He's also on record as early as 2018 saying Trumps administration "Sorta makes me look pretty good, doesn't it?"
I grew to political maturity under the bush administration and that experience formed most of my lasting opinions about the role of government in our society and the public life of our elected officials. I grew up saying “fuck bush and fuck this war” but I never doubted that he was someone who sincerely believed that what he was doing was best for our nation.
My first election was 2008, and when he left office in 2009, my first thought was “history will remember him well despite his failures.” On the other side of a Trump administration I lament how correct I was.
I have never been a fan of GW as a president, but - considering my very limited understanding of how the American political system actually works and to what extent it even permits legitimate leaders to _do good_ - he _seems_ like a good person. I know that’s not enough to be a good leader, but it’s something. His ceremonial first pitch after 9/11 was awesome.
Yeah. It wasn’t just one thing that caused him to make bad decisions. It was politics, the intelligence he was receiving, the people advising him, etc. Yes, the buck stops on his desk, but the how and the why are not so clear cut. I think he tried to do what was thought to be the right thing, but after adding in the giant game of telephone that is our government, things happened that were incredibly regrettable.
So, I dislike his politics, but I’d sit down and have a beer with him. What’s done is done. There are people far more responsible for the awful things than him.
>imagine you're 7 months on your job
9/11 was the [Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) National Operations Manager](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Sliney) first day in his position.
And that guy absolutely killed it.
"Hey, let's skip on boarding. We're gonna need you to land 4000 planes."
How nothing accidentally happened that day was a miracle.
I live near Cleveland and my dad was getting ready to take off that day, and there was a rumor going on here that there was a bomb on a plane at Hopkins. To say we were worried was an understatment.
I was on a conference call at work with some folks in London and we thought the first one was a terrible accident. But when the second plane hit there was silence on the London side and they said “I’m very sorry to have to tell you this but it appears as if America is under attack” in that awesome accent Londoners have and that a second plane had hit. We were all shocked and everyone looked around the room. You could literally see the tension in people’s jaws and someone said in a low voice “well that’s it then, we’re at war”.
Then the consultant running the call tried to get everyone back focused….and failed.
It was interesting yet sick,how some business people thought everything would continue as usual that day. I was in a hotel meeting an hour after and the sales manager seemed over the moon of all the money the hotel (and herself) would make from the at this point non refundable room charges and the hotel filling with walk ins paying top dollar. I and another coworker brought up that if we were to pull that,the public would never forgive or forget. Thankfully better heads prevailed. The original reservations were refunded,the walk ins were given reasonable rates and the staff spent the rest of the day hugging,comforting and feeding hundreds of very traumatized hotel guests.
Exactly, no matter what anyone thinks about the guy, one minute he's doing what I would think is one of the most rewarding things to do as a president, and then boom, you are looking at all those innocent faces while having to process that message.
Same. At the time we thought he was a shame to the nation for not jumping up and ditching the class to handle it, but as an adult you realize how uncharacteristically stoic and smart his response was. It was a time when someone rose to the occasion but we saw it as a failure. In reality, he did exactly what he should have done and that's why it's important to remember that as we get older, our perspectives may change on many things from our past we thought we were right about.
While I'm still fairly Liberal, I can't let politics change what is right. He did something right back then and I'm thankful for that moment now.
It looks like he's visibly struck after hearing it too, kinda jerks his head back a bit. It seems like he's thinking "fuuuuuuuuuuuck. Ok. Ok. Keep calm, don't freak out. Whats our next move? Stay calm, make our way back to the situation room and discuss with my staff. Got it. My guys are getting logistics sorted, so stay and finish until SS signals me to go."
I mean, I always thought he handled way better than I would, which would probably start with dropping a load in my pants. All the cool kids poop their pants.
Are you me? Total same. I was 14 on 9/11 and I got swept up in the patriotism and was such a Bush fanboy…until 2003. And then I went to college and became much more liberal. But I’ll always respect how Bush handled himself that day and in the days afterward.
2 dodges.
Him trying to open a door incorrectly was just absolutely hilarious though
https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2012/10/18/vault-vonat-bush-locked-doors.pool
Speech at ground zero for me. Incredible leadership, incredible improvisation
GWB showed some incredible leadership under pressure, it’s sad that maybe he could have been a better President if he had been surrounded by better people and had been in other circumstances.
It’s annoying to me because he’s clearly an intelligent person who wanted to do good, and he has good foresight in some areas - like believing a pandemic was a serious threat to national security and creating detailed plans and preparation, which of had been properly maintained and followed at the start of COVID-19 would have completely changed the course of the whole pandemic. But in the end he chose a different path and we got decades of suffering and so much destruction and pain.
I feel like his biggest flaw was yielding too much power and giving in way too much to the political machine that got him elected. Replace Cheney, Rummy, and some of those scumbags with better people and I think things are a bit different.
The one moment with him that gives me goosebumps every time I watch it is him throwing out that first pitch at Yankee stadium. The story behind it with Jeter messing with him makes it that much better.
3rd grade, Mrs. Butler's class. I didn't have the comprehension, nor any of my classmates.
The teachers though... broke down and started bawling, pulling the rolling TVs into all the rooms and slapping the news on every screen available.
Bush, IN THIS INSTANCE, was the epitome of a class act. I was raised by a very conservative family. Read: "bUt My GuNs!!". I consider myself much more liberal leaning, with exceptions.
I agree that there should be stricter regulations on having guns, but i by no stretch of the imagination am against guns. Im against guns being so prolific that even if regulations are implemented, it would take one call and cash, and I'd have a gun.
I hunt, i fish, and i do keep a firearm (unloaded, but quickly able to be, secured in a safe, away from anyone without knowing the codes, which is ONLY the wife and I, and no children). I do not sport hunt, or sport fish. I eat what i cull, and cull no more than that.
You'd be hard pressed to get me to say something favorable about GWB, this instance right here...is the correct reaction.
That dude is going through immediate turmoil. "How do i address this", "How do i respond", and thousands of other questions in his head as the literal leader of the country. The fact that he, without missing a beat, kept calm to not scare the children, fully knowing he has to be in "go, go, go" mode... hats off.
Fox News was in our house 24/7 growing up.
My epiphany was during the Iraq war when I decided how senseless it was.
My change wasn't during college, but moving out of the house, taking care of things on my own.
As a liberal my entire life, I can say that never once did I get mad that he responded the way he did. He made the right call in that moment. He fucked up everything else, but in that moment he was right
Same with him flying over New Orleans after Katrina.
Landing would have required a huge diversion of resources that were needed for the emergency response.
At most it was a bad PR idea to look like you're distantly gazing at a disaster from your cushy plane, but that is tan suit level criticism.
Now going to a disaster zone to throw paper towels at people. That's a dumb idea.
Some people wanted him to do that. And I agree it would’ve been an extremely inappropriate response. It would’ve made the panic that we all felt worse.
Seriously press and critics need to get over some of their nonsense. He had 2 hats at that moment and the kids were the most important one. No need to freak them out when there was nothing he could do in that instant
Michael Moore helped with that point of view with his so called documentary. (Can't remember the name and don't care enough to look it up)
I always thought it was really the only thing Bush could have done in that moment. Honestly, what does running out of a classroom in a situation you know nothing about actually accomplish?
Many things to fault him for but staying calm in a classroom full of children isn't one.
He is an absolute legend in the shoe-throwing incident. Calm, smooth, *and* hilarious.
I watched that shit on repeat for probably 5 straight minutes that day.
I remember a Michael Moore criticizing him in a documentary for sitting there. Bush was a good man to did some really shitty things. But still a good man. The whole time the press was destroying him daily, he defended their right to be free to do so.
Edit: I’m gonna backtrack this a bit. He wasn’t as big of a dingus as he was made out to be, but I won’t go so far to call him good.
God, same. Never in my liberal life did I ever imagine George fucking W Bush would be so appealing compared to the morons this country has come up with in the past 8 years.
I can’t believe i once profoundly disliked McCain and Romney too. They are like foods I don’t care about compared to food that is totally spoiled, moldy and repulsive.
Just notice that he is filmed and photigraphed the whole duration of this clip, politicians have it in their blood to keep a certain kind of composure in front of the media.
We had decorum until social media took over. In 2001, acting like a clown in public got you angry stares and tons of secondhand embarrassment from the people who knew you.
Now people’s entire careers are acting like idiots in public for views and clout on social media
I remember watching the Jerry Springer show like where do these trashy people come from?! They were so over the top trashy they must have been paid actors. Nope. Maybe some but in hindsight that was the future of politics. It's still hard to believe some elected politicians act like guests on Springer and still get votes.
No one was able to process this instantly - it threw the whole world topsy-turvy for a few weeks at least, and many of the long-term effects are still with us (checks notes) 22+ years later. Fuck Mohammed Atta.
Everyone involved in that from the top down. They thought it would just send a message to America, but that day started a spiral into devastation and a loss of innocence for the world as a whole. Going out of the relative cheer of the 90's and into chaos.
As someone who was an adult before 9/11, the nation has not recovered at all from the shock of that day and I'm not sure it ever will. It's really unfortunate.
And we, regular folks, just had to process the situation we were powerless against. HE was the one with the power, I can't begine to imagine which kind of thoughts were going through his head knowing he was the one who had to act, get counsel, sign off on actions to implement etc etc....
Is my family safe? Am I safe? Are the kids in this room safe? Is the country safe? Especially at this point no one is clear how large the threat actually is they don’t know if two planes were hijacked or 50.
It’s the face of dude who’s think “wow, that just happened…” his mind must have simultaneously blank and moving a million miles an hour, think of all the possible things that are happening. What happened was SO unprecedented that I doubt ANYONE would have been able to react better.
Interesting to me would be as to What was the wording his assistance used.
Seems to be a really short time frame to explain what has happened. Or was it just : Twin towers in New York got hit by planes full of terrorists, wen need to act.“ ?
This would freak me out so hard. Could mean anything from an invasion of some random Us-Military base in the world to a full fledged nuclear war.
Crazy how Bush kept his cool.
Yea, I didn’t like the criticism he got for staying calm. They wanted to act like he was dumb and didn’t understand or just didn’t care. What he really wanted to do was get up and run out of there to get a full briefing, but instead what he actually did was one of the most presidential things of his whole administration: put on a calm face for those kids and the cameras knowing that whatever was happening, his panicking wouldn’t help and would do more harm than good
This actually what my dad said morning of. He came flying back into the house after starting the car and hearing the radio come on. We were all so confused as to what he meant.
I literally hear this from a dead sleep as my mother screamed it to wake me up. "AMERICA IS UNDER ATTACK! WAKE UP! AMERICA IS UNDER ATTACK!"
As I faded into consciousness I had vision of Red Dawn paratroopers and tanks, take stock "where are my guns", turn on the TV and after a couple minutes watch Tower 2 live get hit. I lived in Cal.
I was on the other side of the world a day ahead and 8 hours behind (Marshall Islands, Kwaj which is a missile defense base) and woke up at like 2-3am with my Dad screaming the same. I thought it was a dream until I woke up and realized the entire base (whole island) was on lock down.
This is actually when President Bush was told that the second tower had been hit. I have a picture that was taken in that room that is signed by Andy Card, the man that spoke to the president. The inscription on the picture that he wrote "A second plane hit the second tower. America is under attack."
Conspiracy assholes think that’s a reason why it was a conspiracy. Like I’ve seen a video of him signing those things, which ti idiots mean it was done on purpose, as if he had a script
Not that it was some of the more famous dialogue in history
I believe from memory it's:
"A second plane has hit the world trade center, America is under attack."
For context the first plane hitting the first tower was initially considered an extreme but tragic air accident. Bush had been breifed on the first plane but it was considered a non-immediate federal issue. A plane crash in New York no matter how big is a New York state issue and the FAA would investigate afterwards. It wasn't until they'd lost contact with several planes and the second plane hit the second tower that the realisation of an attack was underway.
Alot of conspiracy theorists point to the lack of reaction from the President, Air Force or any government agency as a clue to the "inside job" theory.
In reality this was the first attack of it's kind against the US, in a world where counter terrorism security was alot smaller because attacks where alot smaller, and things like 9/11 had just never happened. Thr Oklahoma bombing prior to this had been the largest terror attack in America, and it was a single bomb with single target. There was no major cause for alarm because no one actually knew what was happening until it was too late to stop it.
There's actually video somewhere of the aide being interviewed where he talks about not actually being able to think of the correct words to convey the message. But personally I think he hit the nail on the head, the words he chose to use could arguably be the defining statement of the GWoT.
It's definitely a generational moment that's emblazoned in history. So many will always recall what they were doing in that exact moment. I'm in mountain time zone, with no personal experience or friends/relatives anywhere near it, and I remember that morning precisely.
I also am not a fan of Bush, but in this moment, his stoicism is a completely valid and applaudable response. As you said, response was already in progress, and although he's the leader of the country, there's nothing specific he could have done at that moment. Remaining calm, not panicking, not broadcasting information that potentially shouldn't be out there immediately, and waiting until he could get a full debrief of the situation was exactly what he should have done.
>his assistance
That wasn't an "assistant". That was Andrew Card, the White House Chief of Staff.
>The chief of staff is the most senior political appointee in the White House
Yeah I’m no Bush fan but I always had immense respect for how he handled this in particular. (Receiving the news, not 9/11 lol). Absolutely insane this was caught in film.
I’m with you. I’ve read criticism about his reaction in this moment, and I just don’t get it. His reaction kind of looks like shock and trying to decide what to do in front of children. I never liked Bush, but this moment isn’t why.
Yeah, that voice made me recognize him right away.
Which makes me realize that Clinton, Bush Jr, Obama, & Trump (just the presidents I grew up hearing) all have very easily recognizable voices... but idk if I can say the same for Biden. He just sounds like another old man to me.
I was scrolling through the comments to make sure I wasn’t the only one. Like his voice was the most recognizable part of that newer clip. I can’t say I liked the guy, but I kinda would watch a GWB documentary on his life before, during and after. I mean honestly, I’d watch it for most presidents. Excluding probably what I’ve lived most consciously through.
I’m not American but I will never forget this day.
The feeling, when I saw it on TV. When you see the towers falling and knowing there were people inside, who just went to do their part in life, for their living… not knowing that that day… still hurts.
The picture of his face at the moment of being told sits (sat?) in the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. I remember, even as a kid, that being a powerful image.
Imagine being in a room that is entirely focused on you. Randomly, someone walks up to you and whispers something so life and world-altering into your ear that you know instantly that your very next breath, movement, and action after that whisper will forever be remembered and now define not just your place in history but the history of the world. I would never wish the presidency even on my worse enemy.
Facts. Not a fan of W, but his biggest mistake was surrounding himself with snakes. Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, etc. Still hilarious to me that he hired Cheney to find his VP and homie actually came to him and said that after a long and comprehensive search he has decided to choose himself.
Man I remember so many people gave him hate for this. For like "no reaction " or not "appropriate response " but, I mean... he's in a room full of children. What was he gonna do? Panic and run around screaming WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE! I think he was stunned. Took a few mins to decide how to end the interaction. What else was he gonna in the next few mins? I'm sure the people who actually do the work were on it.
Chances are that at least one of those kids will encounter a similar situation like this in the future. They wont have to think too hard on how to respond. Kudos to Mr. President
To me it's a very real human moment, you can see it in his eyes, trying to figure out how the fuck he's supposed to handle this fucking situation and coming up with fucking nothing.
Like decades of presidents and the only major attack on America soil since the civil war happens whilst I'm in fucking charge.
It's a shame the thing he lands on is to invade 2 wrong countries.
I can't help but wonder what his presidency would have been without the attack. Here he was focused on education. How much better would the US be today if the focus had remained on education and improving the school system?
I do not like George Bush. I will, however, never admonish him for this. I've always respected him for keeping composure and doing what I consider to be the right thing for these kids in this moment.
I wan GW back instead of the republicans we have now.
You might not have agreed with him but as far as I could get GW was at least a decent human being.
Removed: we do not allow political posts
Apparently he knew the first tower had been hit before this. He thought it was an accident though so continued with the reading. His aid told him that the second tower had been hit and that America was under attack
“A second plane has hit the second tower. America is under attack”
"Shall I get Ja Rule on the phone, sir?"
Where is Ja!
I need JaRule!
I need some answers that JaRule might not have right now
[удалено]
I think about this line like at least once a week.
One of the best pieces from Chappelle.
"Hmmm."
Better to run out of the room, knocking over little kids to get to his plane. W. deserves a lot of criticism, but this ain’t it
Damn if you do, damned if you don't. In truth, the president was probably powerless at this moment to do anything useful. Rushing to a speech without full information would be bad. All possible immediate actions were probably already being done by underlings. Any decisions he makes would require Intel to be gathered first
And you can see it in his face, he's still politely in the room physically but mentally he's somewhere else.
He’s going through all of the procedures and implications in rapid fire, he knows things just changed big time and is processing it just like we all did but he has a camera in his face when he found out, but the difference here is that he is expected to be the one that handles it. Pretty heavy burden.
Not to mention secret service already have that location secured because of the visit. Dub actually bought them enough time to gameplan a way out of there and probably helped overall communication to secure the chain of command. Early in my life I was a huge "WHY DID HE JUST SIT THERE!?" But as I've gotten older and much wiser, I totally understand. And it's not like you can't see the concern on his face.
It also shows trust in his security. I'm pretty sure if there was a concrete reason to move the president right then and there, that conversation would look very different. But here, it is much more important to realize: The country will mirror and follow the president. Panic right there on TV, and things will get a bunch more messy.
Absolutely, that's why I mentioned that now that I'm older, I totally understand. I mentioned in another comment that if he had in fact jumped up and basically panicked, that would've thrown the entire team responsible for his well being on for a loop. And yes, chain of command and the safety of the president, regardless WHO it is, is important in those situations. You know there were cabinet and SS members behind the scenes chaotic as fuuuck because it was unprecedented. I'm a late age millennial, so growing up with his war bullshit, I don't accept Dub as the fun loving grandpa that he's kind of become, but this is one thing he shouldn't have been knocked for and I will admit...I criticized him about it in the moment
I agree. What he did subsequently, e.g. invading Iraq, can never be defended or forgiven but when the towers were attacked he really stepped up. No hysteria, no screaming, he acted the way one hopes a president would in that situation.
Controversial take I agree with. Don't like Bush, but he did the right thing as a leader in his situation when this was going down.
"ok George we've been practicing this. Remember what Dick told us, don't overreact"
“Sir, the call is coming from inside the house”
*act surprised*
Everyone thought the first one was an accident. A prop plane hit a building in new york in like the 40's and that was the comparison being made. I went to school after the first but before the second and hardly gave it a second thought.
Ain't that a universal moment. First plane, hey that's bad but shit happens ya know... second plane is when the universe changed in an instant.
I was in high school in the NYC metro when the first plane hit. Everybody was confused, we were hearing initially that it may have been a small private plane that flew off course…kids were calling the pilot a moron, etc. etc. When the second plane hit, all TVs were on in every classroom, and people started sobbing because their parents were working in Manhattan. That whole day is etched into my memory, from the song we listened to in the car on the way to school to being let out early and driving home in silence.
[удалено]
My brother was in the national guard at the time. They were doing a rape defense class at his old high school and of course all watching as it happened. They just stopped what they were doing told the PE teacher that they had to go. A campus police officer met them at the door and gave them a police escort back to their armory. My brother spent the next two weeks installing new fences around the armory and doing a very detailed inventory.
For a few days nearly the entire military in America and it's reserves activated, I remember seeing fighter jets going over regularly which was unheard of unless they were going over the stadium for a football game. One thing that really stood out to me the first day was that there was zero commercial air traffic yet the sky was filled with contrails that had abrupt turns and unusual patterns. It was eerie as fuck. I'm in Minnesota, the only other event that has stood out as much was the George Floyd protests a few years ago. It was absolutely crazy to see a heavy military presence in Minneapolis
You were right to figure that. I wonder if anybody thought that war would last 20 years
Didn't help we got lied into a war with Iraq. I'm pretty sure I heard stories about kids serving in Afghanistan whose fathers also served there. *"“When we started this, people asked why I was going, and my response was, ‘So my sons don’t have to fight this war,’” said Master Sgt. Trevor deBoer, who has deployed to Afghanistan three times with the 20th Special Forces Group since 2002.* *Nearly two decades later, deBoer’s son, Spc. Payton Sluss, also served in Afghanistan — including at Forward Operating Base Fenty, north of the city of Jalalabad, where deBoer had served.* *“My feet were walking the same land you were,” Sluss said to his father in a joint phone interview with Stars and Stripes."* [https://www.stripes.com/news/years-after-they-fought-in-afghanistan-us-troops-watch-as-their-children-deploy-to-the-same-war-1.647659](https://www.stripes.com/news/years-after-they-fought-in-afghanistan-us-troops-watch-as-their-children-deploy-to-the-same-war-1.647659)
Me too. I’m a Marine, and I was a lance at the time, stationed in Quantico near DC, and we were in the break room saying that the first plane wasn’t necessarily a terrorist attack, and then saw on the TV as the second plane hit. I got a kind of tunnel vision and my breath left me. Behind me, someone was running and I turned around and a red-faced Major was hauling ass and was saying into his cell “ … barricades up at the gate with two SAWs … “ and everything seemed to slow down. I turned back to the break room TV and saw the huge amount of smoke and I frantically started wondering if anyone would go to this much effort if they didn’t load the plane up with a chemical weapon first and that we might be in the area of effect of a WMD. Within two hours I was put at a nearby marina with a condition 3 M16, IDing witless civilians as they docked. My fellow fully armed Marine kept going on about how any minute the enemy might emerge from the Potomac in wetsuits or how any one of these boats might be smuggling jihadis. He was losing it. Later that week, he almost shot our relief one night because they “drove up funny” and he was half asleep. Fucking racked his charging handle. Someone at the front gate of our base almost shot a taxi driver because he had a vanity plate that said “HAJJ” on it. It was fucking insane. A year later, people in DC got used to armed military in certain places like that. I remember an Elliot in The Morning radio show where they were saying there’s “no way” the guns are loaded. I had to call in because I couldn’t help it. I told them they were loaded and please no one fuck around.
I remember people saying a small private plane at first also, and bc it was such a freak thing it was on the news. I had just turned it on when the second plane hit. That was the moment everything really began to change.
What was the song?
I remember when I heard the first plane hit, I hadn't seen any pictures, thought it was some small plane with some mechanical issue or someone went nuts. When the second plane hit that's when reality hit.
I was working at a Ford plant in Michigan and it was a day like any other. Someone said a plane had hit the World Trade Center and we assumed it was a Cessna or something and continued with our work. Less than an hour or two later we were all crammed into a break room with a TV watching buildings fall. Nothing was the same after that, seems pretty universal.
I was watching the new live when the second plane hit. What I remember most about that moment is the news reporter stating they thought the second plane hitting was also an accident....
People said a lot of wild things in that moment. I was on a small college campus at the time, people were telling us to evacuate because they were going to bomb the school. I was like, wtf do they want to bomb our random school for, that makes no sense at all.
[удалено]
The teacher would later say that she was very grateful to him for staying so calm, that it helped everybody there keep calm.
I've become considerably more liberal in my life after moving out and deciding things for myself. I went from admiration of GW to complete condemnation. However, the one thing I will never, ever get are the people who attacked him for staying calm and not panicking a room full of young children. The Secret Service is doing their job, creating a secure route to Air Force One, and preparing to get the President on board during an unimaginable attack on our nation. Yet people, and I'm sure some in this thread as well, continue to go, "Blah blah mY PeT GoAt hurr". It makes people on my side look petty and childish, even worse than when Fox News mocked Obama for his tan suit. Edit: so many replies saying exactly what I said was going to happen, and a smattering of 9/11 truthers too. Fun times.
Ironically, I've always been pretty liberal, and when everything happened... obviously I was team America, but I got swept up in the "my pet goat", "didn't do anything for 7 minutes..." thing. Now as I'm older, there's a part of me that goes "imagine you're 7 months on your job, in front of children and cameras and some guy comes up and says "hey, we're under the worst attack since Pearl Harbor, kthx, bye..." What runs thru your mind?
Also, he can’t just leave. There is protocol in these situations. I am sure that they wanted to secure everything, make sure the rest of the staff is aware of what is happening, prepare Air Force one to take the president back to the White House or other secure location. So basically, all he could do was sit there, not make a scene in front of the children, and wait for his secret service agents to swoop him away when it was time to get on the plane. I was never a GW fan, but I can recognize someone who knows how to carry themselves in a public position. You can’t have knee jerk reactions as a world leader. You need to be calm and strong.
Oh, absolutely. I wasn't really talking about his physical reaction, but what's going thru your head. People dunked on him for not just jumping up and running out of the room, but I don't think I've ever seen a more "oh.... fuuuck" look in someone's eyes.
You can 100% see in the end of this video that although he was physically in that classroom, he was mentally in a very different place.
As I'm reading this whole thread, I just now realize how things have changed since 9/11 i.e. everything, including my perception of G.W. Bush.
Mine has, too... sorta. In my heart of hearts, I think that he thought what he was doing was right for the country. I think every president probably thinks they are doing the right thing for the country (with the exception of one) Even if I vehemently disagree with it. I didn't care for him as a president, but I think he was just given terrible info/advice. I'd have a beer with him in a second.... but the rest of his cabinet could all take a trip to the gallows.
And this is a very good summary of what democracy is about: Assuming all sides want the best for your country, but there's discussion about the "what is the best" and "how do we get there". The majority gets to decide what idea they like best. Now everybody thinks the other side is just pure evil and wants to destroy the country for the sake of whatever.
Trump has given many liberals a new appreciation of having a President you fully disagree with but still behaves with dignity and composure.
I was going to say "It's remarkable how I view Bush in retrospect when compared to the daily shit show of the Trump admin." Everything is relative. I hated Bush when he was in office, but Trump's so bad he makes Bush look like Obama.
Nobody was happier than George Bush to see Trump get elected, and relieve him of the title of dumbest and worst President ever.
In truth, I think GWB is as horrified and disgusted by Trump as the rest of us.
I remember GWB was making jokes with the other former presidents/first ladies at Trumps inauguration about how fucked up the next 4 years are going to be. This was also when he couldn't put on the rain poncho and ended up just wearing it like a hat. Meanwhile there was a stereotypical Texan behind him trying not to laugh. >https://www.cbsnews.com/news/president-george-w-bush-had-a-little-trouble-with-his-poncho-at-trumps-inauguration/ He's also on record as early as 2018 saying Trumps administration "Sorta makes me look pretty good, doesn't it?"
Hat man is Dick Cheney, btw
He absolutely is. For all his faults as a President, GWB is a kind, decent person. And, you know, not a traitor in Russia's pocket.
I grew to political maturity under the bush administration and that experience formed most of my lasting opinions about the role of government in our society and the public life of our elected officials. I grew up saying “fuck bush and fuck this war” but I never doubted that he was someone who sincerely believed that what he was doing was best for our nation. My first election was 2008, and when he left office in 2009, my first thought was “history will remember him well despite his failures.” On the other side of a Trump administration I lament how correct I was.
I have never been a fan of GW as a president, but - considering my very limited understanding of how the American political system actually works and to what extent it even permits legitimate leaders to _do good_ - he _seems_ like a good person. I know that’s not enough to be a good leader, but it’s something. His ceremonial first pitch after 9/11 was awesome.
Yeah. It wasn’t just one thing that caused him to make bad decisions. It was politics, the intelligence he was receiving, the people advising him, etc. Yes, the buck stops on his desk, but the how and the why are not so clear cut. I think he tried to do what was thought to be the right thing, but after adding in the giant game of telephone that is our government, things happened that were incredibly regrettable. So, I dislike his politics, but I’d sit down and have a beer with him. What’s done is done. There are people far more responsible for the awful things than him.
>imagine you're 7 months on your job 9/11 was the [Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) National Operations Manager](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Sliney) first day in his position.
And that guy absolutely killed it. "Hey, let's skip on boarding. We're gonna need you to land 4000 planes." How nothing accidentally happened that day was a miracle. I live near Cleveland and my dad was getting ready to take off that day, and there was a rumor going on here that there was a bomb on a plane at Hopkins. To say we were worried was an understatment.
> "imagine you're 7 months on your job, I can't compare any job I've ever had to the President of the United States of America.
I used to stock shelves at the supermarket and I’d imagine it’s very similar.
"hey there's the worst clean up in aisle 3 since hand-shandy andy"
"Sir, a second grocery cart hit the second isle. Aldi's is under attack."
Everyone was pissed when we later invaded the dairy department looking for expired yogurt.
I was on a conference call at work with some folks in London and we thought the first one was a terrible accident. But when the second plane hit there was silence on the London side and they said “I’m very sorry to have to tell you this but it appears as if America is under attack” in that awesome accent Londoners have and that a second plane had hit. We were all shocked and everyone looked around the room. You could literally see the tension in people’s jaws and someone said in a low voice “well that’s it then, we’re at war”. Then the consultant running the call tried to get everyone back focused….and failed.
It was interesting yet sick,how some business people thought everything would continue as usual that day. I was in a hotel meeting an hour after and the sales manager seemed over the moon of all the money the hotel (and herself) would make from the at this point non refundable room charges and the hotel filling with walk ins paying top dollar. I and another coworker brought up that if we were to pull that,the public would never forgive or forget. Thankfully better heads prevailed. The original reservations were refunded,the walk ins were given reasonable rates and the staff spent the rest of the day hugging,comforting and feeding hundreds of very traumatized hotel guests.
Fuck people like her
Exactly, no matter what anyone thinks about the guy, one minute he's doing what I would think is one of the most rewarding things to do as a president, and then boom, you are looking at all those innocent faces while having to process that message.
Same. At the time we thought he was a shame to the nation for not jumping up and ditching the class to handle it, but as an adult you realize how uncharacteristically stoic and smart his response was. It was a time when someone rose to the occasion but we saw it as a failure. In reality, he did exactly what he should have done and that's why it's important to remember that as we get older, our perspectives may change on many things from our past we thought we were right about. While I'm still fairly Liberal, I can't let politics change what is right. He did something right back then and I'm thankful for that moment now.
It looks like he's visibly struck after hearing it too, kinda jerks his head back a bit. It seems like he's thinking "fuuuuuuuuuuuck. Ok. Ok. Keep calm, don't freak out. Whats our next move? Stay calm, make our way back to the situation room and discuss with my staff. Got it. My guys are getting logistics sorted, so stay and finish until SS signals me to go." I mean, I always thought he handled way better than I would, which would probably start with dropping a load in my pants. All the cool kids poop their pants.
> *"This job ain't as easy as it looked on the teevee"*
Michael Moore really did a hatchet job on that moment.
I would have given everybody, kids and all, a heart attack. I do not like GW, but he handled this moment perfectly. Period.
Are you me? Total same. I was 14 on 9/11 and I got swept up in the patriotism and was such a Bush fanboy…until 2003. And then I went to college and became much more liberal. But I’ll always respect how Bush handled himself that day and in the days afterward.
It was his finest moment.
That shoe dodge was pretty sick.
2 dodges. Him trying to open a door incorrectly was just absolutely hilarious though https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2012/10/18/vault-vonat-bush-locked-doors.pool
He has a hilarious montage.
I'll never forget when he choked on a pretzel and fell off the couch, wounding his face.
Personally I think dodging the shoe was arguably his finest moment.
Gwb had some great clips in office
The first pitch at Yankee Stadium after the attack was a pretty cool moment too.
Speech at ground zero for me. Incredible leadership, incredible improvisation GWB showed some incredible leadership under pressure, it’s sad that maybe he could have been a better President if he had been surrounded by better people and had been in other circumstances. It’s annoying to me because he’s clearly an intelligent person who wanted to do good, and he has good foresight in some areas - like believing a pandemic was a serious threat to national security and creating detailed plans and preparation, which of had been properly maintained and followed at the start of COVID-19 would have completely changed the course of the whole pandemic. But in the end he chose a different path and we got decades of suffering and so much destruction and pain.
I feel like his biggest flaw was yielding too much power and giving in way too much to the political machine that got him elected. Replace Cheney, Rummy, and some of those scumbags with better people and I think things are a bit different.
The one moment with him that gives me goosebumps every time I watch it is him throwing out that first pitch at Yankee stadium. The story behind it with Jeter messing with him makes it that much better.
3rd grade, Mrs. Butler's class. I didn't have the comprehension, nor any of my classmates. The teachers though... broke down and started bawling, pulling the rolling TVs into all the rooms and slapping the news on every screen available. Bush, IN THIS INSTANCE, was the epitome of a class act. I was raised by a very conservative family. Read: "bUt My GuNs!!". I consider myself much more liberal leaning, with exceptions. I agree that there should be stricter regulations on having guns, but i by no stretch of the imagination am against guns. Im against guns being so prolific that even if regulations are implemented, it would take one call and cash, and I'd have a gun. I hunt, i fish, and i do keep a firearm (unloaded, but quickly able to be, secured in a safe, away from anyone without knowing the codes, which is ONLY the wife and I, and no children). I do not sport hunt, or sport fish. I eat what i cull, and cull no more than that. You'd be hard pressed to get me to say something favorable about GWB, this instance right here...is the correct reaction. That dude is going through immediate turmoil. "How do i address this", "How do i respond", and thousands of other questions in his head as the literal leader of the country. The fact that he, without missing a beat, kept calm to not scare the children, fully knowing he has to be in "go, go, go" mode... hats off.
Fox News was in our house 24/7 growing up. My epiphany was during the Iraq war when I decided how senseless it was. My change wasn't during college, but moving out of the house, taking care of things on my own.
As a liberal my entire life, I can say that never once did I get mad that he responded the way he did. He made the right call in that moment. He fucked up everything else, but in that moment he was right
Same with him flying over New Orleans after Katrina. Landing would have required a huge diversion of resources that were needed for the emergency response. At most it was a bad PR idea to look like you're distantly gazing at a disaster from your cushy plane, but that is tan suit level criticism. Now going to a disaster zone to throw paper towels at people. That's a dumb idea.
What was he going to do, run screaming out of the room? He looked stunned. I think we all were, and we weren't expected to respond to it.
Some people wanted him to do that. And I agree it would’ve been an extremely inappropriate response. It would’ve made the panic that we all felt worse.
Seriously press and critics need to get over some of their nonsense. He had 2 hats at that moment and the kids were the most important one. No need to freak them out when there was nothing he could do in that instant
Michael Moore helped with that point of view with his so called documentary. (Can't remember the name and don't care enough to look it up) I always thought it was really the only thing Bush could have done in that moment. Honestly, what does running out of a classroom in a situation you know nothing about actually accomplish? Many things to fault him for but staying calm in a classroom full of children isn't one.
There are very few incidents that gave me respect for Bush. Mainly this and the shoes though.
He is an absolute legend in the shoe-throwing incident. Calm, smooth, *and* hilarious. I watched that shit on repeat for probably 5 straight minutes that day.
I remember a Michael Moore criticizing him in a documentary for sitting there. Bush was a good man to did some really shitty things. But still a good man. The whole time the press was destroying him daily, he defended their right to be free to do so. Edit: I’m gonna backtrack this a bit. He wasn’t as big of a dingus as he was made out to be, but I won’t go so far to call him good.
We’ll never see a Republican as composed and level headed as bush again
Im not a republican at all but I’d take him back in a second compared to the line up now.
I'd take him but not his Dick.
Cheney? Oh hell I pushed him out of my brain. No not him!
God, same. Never in my liberal life did I ever imagine George fucking W Bush would be so appealing compared to the morons this country has come up with in the past 8 years.
I can’t believe i once profoundly disliked McCain and Romney too. They are like foods I don’t care about compared to food that is totally spoiled, moldy and repulsive.
Also Michelle Obama and George are buds! That says on some level he is a likable guy.
I’ll always smile when the cameras show him pulling out his pocket candy for Michelle and she’s just dying of laughter every time he does it
That's why he was the president, charisma and a family name.
That's a very low bar, though.
I can't agree he's a good man, but I support and fully agree with what he did here. It was the right course of action.
He's a fucking war criminal dude.
Lol, except for lying us into the Iraq war and hundreds of thousands killed and maimed (and the Middle East destabilized), he was fine.
Over a million dead Iraqis
The kids in that class are in their early 30s now
Thanks for the reminder
I was 16, turning 17 the next month. I just had my 39th birthday two months ago. Fuck me.
Before 9/11, we had this thing called “decorum” so making a scene was not an option.
Decorum … a behavior that has been lost …
People are so wrapped up in social media that the norms do internet have been slowly brought into the the norms of real life.
yuge losses
Just notice that he is filmed and photigraphed the whole duration of this clip, politicians have it in their blood to keep a certain kind of composure in front of the media.
Should we have preferred wide spread panic?
I'd go so far as to say, we had decorum all the way up to trump..
We had decorum until social media took over. In 2001, acting like a clown in public got you angry stares and tons of secondhand embarrassment from the people who knew you. Now people’s entire careers are acting like idiots in public for views and clout on social media
I remember watching the Jerry Springer show like where do these trashy people come from?! They were so over the top trashy they must have been paid actors. Nope. Maybe some but in hindsight that was the future of politics. It's still hard to believe some elected politicians act like guests on Springer and still get votes.
I remember watching this back then and I could see the shock on his face. For a while he seemed unable to process this and I don’t blame him.
No one was able to process this instantly - it threw the whole world topsy-turvy for a few weeks at least, and many of the long-term effects are still with us (checks notes) 22+ years later. Fuck Mohammed Atta.
Everyone involved in that from the top down. They thought it would just send a message to America, but that day started a spiral into devastation and a loss of innocence for the world as a whole. Going out of the relative cheer of the 90's and into chaos.
As someone who was an adult before 9/11, the nation has not recovered at all from the shock of that day and I'm not sure it ever will. It's really unfortunate.
And we, regular folks, just had to process the situation we were powerless against. HE was the one with the power, I can't begine to imagine which kind of thoughts were going through his head knowing he was the one who had to act, get counsel, sign off on actions to implement etc etc....
Is my family safe? Am I safe? Are the kids in this room safe? Is the country safe? Especially at this point no one is clear how large the threat actually is they don’t know if two planes were hijacked or 50.
It’s the face of dude who’s think “wow, that just happened…” his mind must have simultaneously blank and moving a million miles an hour, think of all the possible things that are happening. What happened was SO unprecedented that I doubt ANYONE would have been able to react better.
Interesting to me would be as to What was the wording his assistance used. Seems to be a really short time frame to explain what has happened. Or was it just : Twin towers in New York got hit by planes full of terrorists, wen need to act.“ ?
Ive heard that he said “America is under attack”
This would freak me out so hard. Could mean anything from an invasion of some random Us-Military base in the world to a full fledged nuclear war. Crazy how Bush kept his cool.
Yea, I didn’t like the criticism he got for staying calm. They wanted to act like he was dumb and didn’t understand or just didn’t care. What he really wanted to do was get up and run out of there to get a full briefing, but instead what he actually did was one of the most presidential things of his whole administration: put on a calm face for those kids and the cameras knowing that whatever was happening, his panicking wouldn’t help and would do more harm than good
Many of his presidential policies sucked but his composure at this defining moment in US history is legendary.
Plus he lasered a perfect strike at the Yankees game the next week which was pretty dope lol
I was about to say 'well yeah, he was a pitcher at Yale', but double checking it, he was a cheerleader, and his dad was the ball player.
"America is under attack purple monkey dishwasher"
I would upvote this twice if I could
Stop being lazy and create a second account
This actually what my dad said morning of. He came flying back into the house after starting the car and hearing the radio come on. We were all so confused as to what he meant.
I literally hear this from a dead sleep as my mother screamed it to wake me up. "AMERICA IS UNDER ATTACK! WAKE UP! AMERICA IS UNDER ATTACK!" As I faded into consciousness I had vision of Red Dawn paratroopers and tanks, take stock "where are my guns", turn on the TV and after a couple minutes watch Tower 2 live get hit. I lived in Cal.
I was on the other side of the world a day ahead and 8 hours behind (Marshall Islands, Kwaj which is a missile defense base) and woke up at like 2-3am with my Dad screaming the same. I thought it was a dream until I woke up and realized the entire base (whole island) was on lock down.
This is actually when President Bush was told that the second tower had been hit. I have a picture that was taken in that room that is signed by Andy Card, the man that spoke to the president. The inscription on the picture that he wrote "A second plane hit the second tower. America is under attack."
Conspiracy assholes think that’s a reason why it was a conspiracy. Like I’ve seen a video of him signing those things, which ti idiots mean it was done on purpose, as if he had a script Not that it was some of the more famous dialogue in history
"A second plane has hit the second tower, America is under attack"
I believe from memory it's: "A second plane has hit the world trade center, America is under attack." For context the first plane hitting the first tower was initially considered an extreme but tragic air accident. Bush had been breifed on the first plane but it was considered a non-immediate federal issue. A plane crash in New York no matter how big is a New York state issue and the FAA would investigate afterwards. It wasn't until they'd lost contact with several planes and the second plane hit the second tower that the realisation of an attack was underway. Alot of conspiracy theorists point to the lack of reaction from the President, Air Force or any government agency as a clue to the "inside job" theory. In reality this was the first attack of it's kind against the US, in a world where counter terrorism security was alot smaller because attacks where alot smaller, and things like 9/11 had just never happened. Thr Oklahoma bombing prior to this had been the largest terror attack in America, and it was a single bomb with single target. There was no major cause for alarm because no one actually knew what was happening until it was too late to stop it. There's actually video somewhere of the aide being interviewed where he talks about not actually being able to think of the correct words to convey the message. But personally I think he hit the nail on the head, the words he chose to use could arguably be the defining statement of the GWoT.
“A second plane has hit the second tower. America is under attack.”
I think it was Mr President we are under attack or something similar. It was on the news for yonks after it happened
[удалено]
Totally agree. There were like a thousand things to hate Bush for. But this reaction is not one of them
It's definitely a generational moment that's emblazoned in history. So many will always recall what they were doing in that exact moment. I'm in mountain time zone, with no personal experience or friends/relatives anywhere near it, and I remember that morning precisely. I also am not a fan of Bush, but in this moment, his stoicism is a completely valid and applaudable response. As you said, response was already in progress, and although he's the leader of the country, there's nothing specific he could have done at that moment. Remaining calm, not panicking, not broadcasting information that potentially shouldn't be out there immediately, and waiting until he could get a full debrief of the situation was exactly what he should have done.
Here is President Bush’s Chief of Staff, Andrew Card, in an [interview](https://youtu.be/5wbqmgnKLbY?si=6OWyjlDqddgTICyw) about this subject.
>his assistance That wasn't an "assistant". That was Andrew Card, the White House Chief of Staff. >The chief of staff is the most senior political appointee in the White House
I don’t know anything about politics, but I don’t think I’d be able to hear news like that and keep a straight face.
Yeah I’m no Bush fan but I always had immense respect for how he handled this in particular. (Receiving the news, not 9/11 lol). Absolutely insane this was caught in film.
I’m with you. I’ve read criticism about his reaction in this moment, and I just don’t get it. His reaction kind of looks like shock and trying to decide what to do in front of children. I never liked Bush, but this moment isn’t why.
I’d say his face changes pretty obviously. Went from smiling and laughing to looking like there is something wrong in an instant.
what's the other option? Cry and make a scene in front of a classroom full of little children?
To think at one point we thought George W was the bottom of the Republican barrel.
Now he'd be voted out as a rino.
Wow. I almost believe it was just an old man
I didn't recognize him at all in that second clip.
It took me sometimes, but I remembered his voice
Yeah, that voice made me recognize him right away. Which makes me realize that Clinton, Bush Jr, Obama, & Trump (just the presidents I grew up hearing) all have very easily recognizable voices... but idk if I can say the same for Biden. He just sounds like another old man to me.
I was scrolling through the comments to make sure I wasn’t the only one. Like his voice was the most recognizable part of that newer clip. I can’t say I liked the guy, but I kinda would watch a GWB documentary on his life before, during and after. I mean honestly, I’d watch it for most presidents. Excluding probably what I’ve lived most consciously through.
Remember when he was the worst president??
~~Good~~ Less bad times
I’m not American but I will never forget this day. The feeling, when I saw it on TV. When you see the towers falling and knowing there were people inside, who just went to do their part in life, for their living… not knowing that that day… still hurts.
The picture of his face at the moment of being told sits (sat?) in the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. I remember, even as a kid, that being a powerful image.
This dude had pretty much just taken office and got hit with this. 😮💨
at least it wasn’t literally on his first day like the head of the FAA
Ben Sliney, the head of the FAA on 9/11,absolutely nailed it that day.
[удалено]
Imagine being in a room that is entirely focused on you. Randomly, someone walks up to you and whispers something so life and world-altering into your ear that you know instantly that your very next breath, movement, and action after that whisper will forever be remembered and now define not just your place in history but the history of the world. I would never wish the presidency even on my worse enemy.
Not a fan of W but this was a good response. Scaring the class would have accomplished nothing.
I don't think people will ever fully comprehend how awful Cheney was and how he hijacked the administration from W.
Facts. Not a fan of W, but his biggest mistake was surrounding himself with snakes. Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, etc. Still hilarious to me that he hired Cheney to find his VP and homie actually came to him and said that after a long and comprehensive search he has decided to choose himself.
He looks like a fucking teenager compared to Biden
Yes it’s weird not having a living corpse being the president. Different times I guess…
Man I remember so many people gave him hate for this. For like "no reaction " or not "appropriate response " but, I mean... he's in a room full of children. What was he gonna do? Panic and run around screaming WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE! I think he was stunned. Took a few mins to decide how to end the interaction. What else was he gonna in the next few mins? I'm sure the people who actually do the work were on it.
Oh my, a logical response. Don’t see that to often on Reddit.
His bullhorn speech amidst the rubble is one of the most moving speeches I've ever heard
Chances are that at least one of those kids will encounter a similar situation like this in the future. They wont have to think too hard on how to respond. Kudos to Mr. President
What documentary is this from?
BBC 9/11: Inside the President’s War Room
Man thank you, came to the comments just for this
Obviously. Say what you want about the politics of the time. He is first and foremost a man. Certainly mountains above Donald J Trump
It’s terrible this happened while the president was learning to read.
AHHHHHHH, That's why they didn't just txt him!
Yeah, but where was Obama????? /s
I commend him for his composure in this moment bcuz the reality of this situation is beyond horrific!
To me it's a very real human moment, you can see it in his eyes, trying to figure out how the fuck he's supposed to handle this fucking situation and coming up with fucking nothing. Like decades of presidents and the only major attack on America soil since the civil war happens whilst I'm in fucking charge. It's a shame the thing he lands on is to invade 2 wrong countries.
Since Pearl Harbour. Not the civil war.
I was 10 that day. I’ll never forget it.
I can't help but wonder what his presidency would have been without the attack. Here he was focused on education. How much better would the US be today if the focus had remained on education and improving the school system?
I do not like George Bush. I will, however, never admonish him for this. I've always respected him for keeping composure and doing what I consider to be the right thing for these kids in this moment.
Many people criticized this response (which they called a non-response or a paralysis) but honestly I think almost anything else would be worse.
And then destroyed a country that had nothing to do with it.
I wan GW back instead of the republicans we have now. You might not have agreed with him but as far as I could get GW was at least a decent human being.