Ari Fleischer's tweets offer captivating, real-time look at his 9/11 experience
'I'm thankful Twitter didn't exist then,' says George W. Bush's former press secretary
Ari Fleischer, the former White House press secretary who was with President George W. Bush on Sept. 11, 2001, took to Twitter on Thursday to offer his recollections of the 9/11 attacks in real time.
Through a series of diary-like tweets taken from his notes from that day, Fleischer offers a vivid account of the events of 9/11 as seen through the eyes of one of the president's trusted advisers.
"What happened that day should be shared so it is never forgotten," he told Yahoo News. "Letting people see what happened on the inside just feels like the right thing to do on a day like this."
8:40am, 9-11, 2001: I was in the motorcade 4 the drive from the Colony Beach & Tennis Resort in Sarasota, FL 2the Emma Booker Elem. School.
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2014
8:46 Flight 11 crashes into the North Tower. The motorcade was a few minutes away from arriving at the school.
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2014
Approx 8:50: I got a page on my pager (we didn't have blackberries then and the iPhone hadn't been invented) telling me a plane hit the WTC.
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2014
As soon as I got the page, I hussled out of my car 2tell the Pres. He was shaking hands with school officials - none of whom knew the news.
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2014
But Fleischer, who served as press secretary from 2001 to 2003, says Karl Rove informed Bush of what was believed to be an accident. Then the second plane hit.
9:05 WH Chief of Staff Andy Card interrupts the Pres to whisper in his hear - the second tower has been hit. "America is under attack."
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2014
Fleischer, who now runs a sports communications firm, recalled that Bush wanted to address the press, but that Fleischer advised him against it.
The Pres. was going to address the press re the "accident". Given the news re the 2nd tower, I didn't think he should address the press yet.
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2014
I wrote on back of a legal pad "DON'T SAY ANYTHING YET". I wanted him 2b briefed b4 talking. I put my back to the press & held up the sign.
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2014
POTUS left the event and went into the holding room 2get briefed/ work the phones. Here is a picture of the scene. pic.twitter.com/ZztLy2plSl
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2014
Someone wheeled a TV into the holding room. Here's the scene: pic.twitter.com/x9A3RTQykd
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2014
9:30 Bush addressed a group in the gym that expected 2hear remarks on education. Few people there knew of the attack. No twitter back then.
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2014
9:37 American Airlines Flight 77 crashes into the Pentagon.
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2014
At 9:45 a.m., they boarded Air Force One. Years later, Fleischer writes, Capt. Mark Tillman told him they took off at an "unusually steep ascent [because] he had a report of a sniper at end of runway."
The Secret Service did not want us to return to DC. They thought Andrew Air Force Base and the White House could be targets.
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2014
They flew to Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana, instead.
Here is a scene aboard AFOne in POTUS's cabin, enroute Barksdale. pic.twitter.com/ayAgN7Efuv
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2014
Here is a copy of one page from my notes while all this was going on: pic.twitter.com/xpqWXWLMAQ
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2014
(1/2) Bush to VP: "We're at war...We're going to take care of this. When we find out who did this, they're not going 2like me as President."
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2014
Hearing Bush's declaration of war is Fleischer's most vivid memory of 9/11.
"To hear the commander in chief say that sends a shiver down your spine," Fleischer told Yahoo News.
At Barksdale, Bush addressed the nation.
"Freedom, itself, was attacked this morning by a faceless coward, and freedom will be defended. I want to reassure the American people...
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2014
They left Barksdale for Offut Air Force Base in Nebraska, "a secure location where Bush could convene a meeting of the National Security Council."
Here is the scene as we entered a small non-nondescript building that led all the way down to a command bunker. pic.twitter.com/i66H0jzPgh
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2014
4:30 Pres. Bush called Mrs. Bush. "I'm coming home...see you at the White House."
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2014
He also told the First Lady, "If I'm in the WH and there's a plane coming my way, all I can say is I hope I read my Bible that day."
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2014
We had a fighter escort as we returned to DC. This is the scene aboard AFOne as we looked out the windows: pic.twitter.com/BgogjMZMmh
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2014
Here's a video of the fighter escort. I hope you can watch this:http://t.co/QviSAN03XS
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2014
Fleischer says that had Twitter existed on 9/11, he would not have used it.
"I'm thankful Twitter didn't exist then," he said. "I wouldn't have tweeted, but it likely would have spread bad rumors — and there was a lot of false information flying that day."
Would it have changed the way the administration responded to the attacks?
"[We] would have had to respond to every false rumor that circulated, and many horrific accounts would have come out from inside burning buildings," Fleischer said. "You can't stop technology, but as much as I am a fan of Twitter, I'm glad it didn't exist on September 11, 2001."
