White House insiders have revealed a chilling new detail of what happened inside the Situation Room on September 11.
In his book The Situation Room, former Clinton aide and now ABC anchor George Stephanopoulos revealed what life was like inside the White House on 9/11.
According to Stephanopoulos, Frank Miller, the senior director for defense policy, urged everyone to leave the room, but no one did.
Taking a different approach, Miller asked everyone to write down their name and Social Security number because “we wanted to know which bodies to look for.”
At the outset of the terrorist attacks that claimed the lives of nearly 3,000 people, there were fears that a hijacked plane might also have been headed for the White House. United Flight 93 was crashed in a Pennsylvania field by a heroic revolt of passengers before it could reach its intended target: either the White House or the U.S. Capitol.
Stephanopoulos said everyone inside, about 20 people, complied with Miller’s request.
Frank Miller, the senior director of defense policy, had everyone write down their name and Social Security number because “we wanted to know which bodies to look for.”
Plumes of smoke rise from the top of One World Trade Center and flames and debris erupt from Two World Trade Center, Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001.
Stephanopoulos also recalls how in 2008 the White House withdrew plans to move President Obama out of the building during disruptive renovations because they feared it would appear racist.
A White House aide dismissed the idea, saying: “We’re not going to remove the first black president of the United States from the Oval Office. That’s not going to happen.”
In his book ‘The Situation Room,’ former Clinton aide turned ABC anchor George Stephanopoulos revealed what life was like inside the White House on 9/11.
The Situation Room, located in the basement of the West Wing, was renovated as part of a $50 million renovation last year.
Construction workers dug five feet beneath the 5,500-square-foot secure complex to install state-of-the-art wiring and upgrade facilities JFK wanted after the Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961.
The labyrinth of offices, conference rooms and banks of computers features new screens, LED lights, clocks and high-tech communications infrastructure to monitor for threats.
While offices with clear glass can be made opaque at the push of a button, in reality.
The modern finish replaces old floors and furniture worn down over 50 years as history unfolded.
Donald Trump monitored from inside the room the 2019 operation that killed Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
As Barack Obama watched intently as a Navy SEAL raid on 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden ended with his assassination.
In February 2022, President Biden watched as Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi blew himself up along with his family inside a Syrian hideout during a raid by U.S. forces.
Obama stared blankly as he observed the chilling moment when a Navy SEAL raid on Sept. 11 mastermind Osama bin Laden ended with his killing in 2011.
According to Stephanopoulos, President Obama was not asked to leave the White House while it was being renovated because staff thought asking the first black president to leave the White House would look racist.
Access is strictly controlled and generally restricted to the president’s military and national security advisers.
Anyone listening to classified briefings needs clearance. Even contractors who worked on the renovation last year had to obtain temporary security clearances.
The complex was created in 1961 by the Kennedy administration after the Bay of Pigs invasion.
President John F. Kennedy believed there should be a dedicated crisis management center where officials could coordinate intelligence faster and better.
Nixon administration official Henry Kissinger described the space as “uncomfortable, unsightly and essentially oppressive.”
After 9/11, the White House undertook a major upgrade, along with a broader improvement of presidential communications on Air Force One and the presidential helicopter.
The complex was created in 1961 by the Kennedy administration after the Bay of Pigs invasion. Staff are seen here at the newly renovated complex.
The complex is staffed by military and civilian personnel 24 hours a day who monitor the latest developments around the world.
It has a reception area with the US coat of arms engraved in stone. Behind it is the main conference room, the “JFK Room”.
To the right is a smaller conference room and two soundproof meeting rooms. To the left is the “surveillance floor,” an operations center that operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
The JFK room has a long wooden table with six leather chairs on either side and one at the head for the president. Leather armchairs line the walls.
A giant, high-tech screen runs along the entire back wall. At the president’s end of the room is a 2-foot (60-centimeter) seal, larger than the old one.