On September 11, 2001, President George W. Bush was on a school‑visit trip to Sarasota, Florida, when the nation’s worst terrorist attack unfolded. Reuters correspondent Steve Holland, who was traveling with the president, describes the moment the president learned that America was under attack.
Morning at Emma E. Booker Elementary
President Bush, less than eight months into his first term, had arrived at Emma E. Booker Elementary School to read to a group of students and promote his education agenda. While he was in the classroom, a White House aide entered and whispered, “America is under attack,” after a second plane struck the World Trade Center.
Holland and other reporters were stationed at a nearby press center, watching live television as smoke poured from one of the twin towers. The first plane had hit the North Tower; the second impact on the South Tower came moments later.
President’s Immediate Response
Within hours, Bush was whisked onto Air Force One and taken to Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana, then to Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska. From an underground bunker in Nebraska, he held a teleconference with senior national‑security officials and Vice President Dick Cheney.
Returning to Washington that afternoon, Bush delivered an Oval Office address, describing the attacks as “terrible sadness” and “quiet, unyielding anger.” He later stood on a fire‑engine at Ground Zero with then‑Mayor Rudy Giuliani, declaring that the United States was now at war with Islamic militants.
Aftermath and Legacy
The attacks claimed roughly 3,000 lives at the World Trade Center, 64 aboard the Pentagon‑bound flight, and 44 in a crash in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. The tragedy spurred sweeping security reforms at airports and public buildings and led to the creation of the Department of Homeland Security.
President Bush’s administration faced criticism for its interrogation techniques and for the 2003 invasion of Iraq, which many later viewed as a costly mistake. Nonetheless, Bush’s resolve in the immediate aftermath helped rally a grieving nation.
25‑Year Commemoration
Now 80, the former president plans to attend a ceremony at Ground Zero on the 25th anniversary of the attacks. He will also speak at his presidential library in Dallas, where 16 of his paintings depicting the day’s courage and sacrifice will be on display.
Holland, who served as president of the White House Correspondents’ Association at the time, kept the ash‑covered shoes he wore that day as a personal reminder of the tragedy.
Original reporting: Appleton, WI News Feed (HLL/CB) — read the source article.
