President Bush Learns of the September 11 Attacks in Sarasota
By Wm. E. McMullen II
September 11, 2001 — President George W. Bush was visiting Emma E. Booker Elementary School in Sarasota when he learned that the United States was under attack.
Bush had entered a second-grade classroom to promote childhood literacy. After the second aircraft struck the World Trade Center, White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card approached him and quietly delivered the news. The nationally televised image of the president receiving that message placed a Sarasota elementary school at one of the defining moments of modern American history.
Bush subsequently spoke from the school library, delivering his first public statement concerning the attacks before departing from Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport. The National Archives preserves the original White House video.
The Florida setting is sometimes overshadowed by the terrible events in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania. Yet Sarasota became the place from which the president first addressed the country and began responding to a national emergency that would change American government, security, foreign policy and everyday life.
Sources for Additional Reading
- National Archives — Remarks at Emma E. Booker Elementary School — The original White House video preserved in the National Archives.
- George W. Bush Presidential Library — September 11 Records and Photographs — Official records, photographs and research materials from the day.
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