Reply #1: this is pathetic [View All]

[ithacan]

The President and the Vice President
The President was seated in a classroom of second graders when, at approximately 9:05,
Andrew Card whispered to him: “A second plane hit the second tower. America is under
attack.” The President told us his instinct was to project calm, not to have the country see
an excited reaction at a moment of crisis. The national press corps 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.

Talk about bullshit!

Here are the parts I think you're referring to:

According to notes of the call, at about 9:45 the President told the Vice
President: “Sounds like we have a minor war going on here, I heard about the Pentagon.
We're at war….somebody's going to pay.”
About this time Card, the lead Secret Service agent, the President's military aide, and the
pilot were conferring on a possible destination for Air Force One. The Secret Service
agent felt strongly that the situation in Washington was too unstable to return. Card
agreed. The President, however, needed convincing. All witnesses agreed that the
President strongly wanted to return to Washington and only grudgingly agreed to go
elsewhere. The issue was still undecided when the President conferred with the Vice
President at about the time Air Force One was taking off. The Vice President recalled
urging the President not to come back to Washington. Air Force One departed at
approximately 9:55, with no destination at take-off. The objective was to get up in the
air—as fast and as high as possible—and then decide where to go.

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