On message on 9/11

It is sometimes suggested that Bush cares more about politics than policy. The 9/11 commission report supports this hypothesis.

P 39
"Between 9:15 and 9:30, the staff was busy arranging a return to Washington,
while the President consulted his senior advisers about his remarks. No one in
the traveling party had any information during this time that other aircraft were
hijacked or missing. Staff was in contact with the White House Situation Room,
but as far as we could determine, no one with the President was in contact with
the Pentagon.The focus was on the President’s statement to the nation.The only
decision made during this time was to return to Washington."

P 325 - 6

"While the plan at the elementary school had been to return to Washington,
by the time Air Force One was airborne at 9:55 A.M. the Secret Service, the
President’s advisers, and Vice President Cheney were strongly advising against
it. President Bush reluctantly acceded to this advice and, at about 10:10, Air
Force One changed course and began heading due west.The immediate objective
was to find a safe location—not too far away—where the President could
land and speak to the American people. ...
The President’s military aide, an Air Force officer, quickly researched the options
and, sometime around 10:20, identified Barksdale Air Force Base as an appropriate
interim destination

When Air Force One landed at Barksdale at about 11:45,
[big snip]

At about 3:15, President Bush met with his principal advisers through a secure video teleconference."

That is when Bush stopped relying completely on Cheney to interpret and transmit his instructions or to act as commander in chief, if he saw fit.


The sad fact is that his performance on 9/11 made Bush widly popular and is the only reason he might conceivably be re-elected (perish the thought). The lesson for future Presidents is that, if you want to be re-elected, work on your speach and let the Vice President handly minor policy details like authorising NORAD to shoot down airliners which don't respond