Posted on 07/29/2011 2:21:29 AM PDT by markomalley
George W Bush says his blank reaction to the first news of the Sept 11 attacks while US president was a conscious decision to project an aura of calm in a crisis.
In a rare interview with the National Geographic Channel, Mr Bush reflected on what was going through his mind when he was informed that a second passenger jet had hit New York's World Trade Center.
Mr Bush was visiting a Florida classroom at the time, and the incident - which was caught by television cameras - has often been used by critics to ridicule his apparently dazed response to the attack
"My first reaction was anger. Who the hell would do that to America? Then I immediately focused on the children, and the contrast between the attack and the innocence of children," Mr Bush said.
Mr Bush said he could see journalists at the back of the classroom getting the news on their own cellphones "and it was like watching a silent movie."
Mr Bush said he quickly realised that a lot of people beyond the room would be watching for his reaction.
"So I made the decision not to jump up immediately and leave the classroom. I didn't want to rattle the kids. I wanted to project a sense of calm," he said of his decision to remain seated and silent.
"I had been in enough crises to know that the first thing a leader has to do is to project calm," he added.
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
I am defending my opinion. You seem to think, as the French proverb goes, “This creature is very wicked. He defends himself when attacked.”
No, I think that you are a nut with a simple opinion, and are obsessed with some trivial matter that in your simple mind is of great national importance and must be repeated over and over and over and over.
Had Bush made what was perceived to be a wrong call in the first hours of 911 wouldn’t someone have told him?
Had someone in the military decided the President absolutely needed to make the ultimate decision (whatever that is) within the time GW was in the classroom they would have gotten hold of Andy Card or whoever and Andy would walk across the room and again whisper into GW’s ear The President would then get up, apologize for having to go and walked out.
A President who is any good trusts the people around him that make decisions. The idea that GW’s sitting in a classroom for a few minutes was an issue is preposterous. It really shows the absolute vacancy of the left
What you refer to as a “trivial matter” harmed Bush’s reputation. Fifty years from, the episode will still be talked about.
I always thought that Bush handled it like the cool under pressure fighter pilot that he is.
I am no fan of Bush, whatsoever... but this is just silly. I didn’t see a blank look in his eyes... I saw cold steel. In fact, that very moment told me exactly what he was gonna do, long before the megaphone in NYC. Credit where credit is due - Dubya cannot be faulted for being unsure in a crisis at all.
Bush understood that whatever he felt at that moment, he had to keep his emotions in check. What would people want him to do, yell out, “OH MY GOD!” and go screaming out of the room?
If Bush was a Democrat, the press would have praised him for his calm demeanor.
LOL, you need to get a life so that you can keep minor things from becoming major historical events to you, it would also help you to stop misinterpreting things.
Certainly you don’t want to upset those around you, but there must also be a sense of urgency in his actions.
Bush’s erred in failing to excuse himself promptly from the elementary school class after learning the country was under attack. That Bush addressed the episode in his memoir suggests that he too recognizes its ill effect on his reputation.
You really do need to go out and find some new interests in life.
Personal insults are not a compelling form of argument.
This is your third day of this nuttiness, you have a problem.
Oops. And you.
Huh? A twinkle in his eye? Oh boy. Personally I was fine with the 6 minutes it took for security to plan how to move the president.
The President’s chief of staff told him that the country was under attack — and his immediate reaction was to continue with a PR event in an elementary school class. Call me excitable, but I would have ended the event and started doing commander in chief things instead, like asking who was attacking and what needed to be done to defend the country.
X1000 As does the rest of the people involved in this discussion. Like they say in the Marines, when you find yourself in a hole stop digging. Right about now you should be hearing a Chinese dialect and smelling wontons.
Exactly.
Dude....get a grip, this is silly and not worthy of comment. There are some real serious things to disagree with W on about his actions as president, this is not one that’s even a blip on the radar screen.
OK, so he should have leapt up, run out of the room, and done...what?
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