The man who broke the news to President George W. Bush that America had been attacked by terrorists on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001 recalled the moment on “Your World” Friday.
“That day, the president thought he was going into a classroom to talk about his favorite topic … education and reforming our education system,” Andy Card, then White House chief of staff, told host Neil Cauvto. “We thought it was going to be an easy day.”
Bush had just arrived at Emma E. Booker Elementary School in Sarasota, Fla., when he was informed a plane had hit one of the World Trade Center towers in New York City.
The former White House official recalled Bush’s shocked but calm expression after he received the unfathomable news.
“I honestly believe the words that most impacted [him] was when I said ‘America is under attack’. And I say this — I don’t know that this is what the president thought, but that was the day he realized the real burden of being a president,” Card said. “You know, that was the day he became president. He took the oath on January 20th, but I think it was September 11, 2001 that the magnitude of the responsibility, really, he acknowledged was his responsibility, and I think he lived up to the expectations that we all had.”
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