Its so crazy to think that all of these students are around 29 30 years old now

According to the Chief of Staff (the one who whispered in his ear), the words he whispered were "A second plane hit the second tower. America is under attack."

After learning what happened he isn’t even in the classroom anymore, his mind has a thousand things racing through it.

The contrast of this pure innocence of students in school and the pure evil of the 9/11 attacks is chilling

Yeah he played it off well by sitting there. But you can see the change of emotion in his eyes and his body.

What I find particularly fascinating is how he’s told just before the pagers for the news anchors themselves go off. That’s some fast reporting

Man the way this teacher teaches stresses me out.

You can see the look of sadness and fear on his face. He handled that whole situation with such class and professionalism as to not scare those precious kids

You can truly see the distraught in his eyes while still keeping calm while the teacher reads.

"A second plane hit the second tower. America is under attack." is what he said to him. I bet his mind and heart were racing immediately. Unable to even focus on what's going on around him.

There's nothing like looking straight at the very thing you're trying to protect without letting know its in danger

He knew already

I've seen people criticizing his reaction, but I don't understand why. From the moment they whisper on his ear that the twin towers were attacked, you can clearly see the amount of panic he's holding back. The way I see it, he took it like a champ.

Bush said, “The first thing I tried to do was slow my thinking down. I said in my mind, “OK so you’re now the leader of a country that is under attack. Stay calm. You trained for this kind of emergency. You hope it never happens but you’re ready in case it does.” I knew the things we needed to do immediately, but I still feel pretty small in that moment. I just thought, “This has never happened before. How am I supposed to stop this?!” It felt like the plane had crashed into me, as I felt the entire weight of the country suddenly crash down on my shoulders.”

"It's done, sir."

This is haunting, devastating and brings back horrific memories (I was 29 at home with my one year old). My husband was sent home from work from a large Financial Services company. We were glued to the tv and cried together and held each other with more love than ever before. I have to comment on the teacher. She does an absolutely superior job teaching those children how to read! I never paid attention to that part of this clip before

I think in a way he did the right thing, not freaking out and running out of the room. Kids that Age shouldn’t have to see that.

Definitely the best way he could have reacted.

He was thinking what he should have for lunch

They conveniently edited out the kids chanting ‘Plane, Kite, Hit, Steel’.

glad he reacted the way he did, but knowing the context it makes it easier to see his heart drop.

I’m personally not a huge fan of bushs administration, but his reaction to this news and his impressive composure is astounding to me, I would not have been that calm.

Its crazy to think about just what was going through his head in that moment as he's trying to be calm woth the children. I couldn't imagine it.

blows my mind how historical this seemingly innocent footage is

I have never seen this before. You can tell the president was so incredibly stressed knowing what was really going on and we are now at war. He did his absolute best to try and not show that stress, especially in front of young kids, and be a leader. Simply amazing.

I wouldn't have walked away either. Her teaching is hypnotic.

“Mission accomplished sir, now act shocked in front of the camera”.

I remember this in middle school back in 2001. It feels like yesterday.

By reading his body language, you can tell he was in deep thought about something the entire time......

Bush: What happened? Advisor: A second plane hit Bush Reaction : Oh i already know that

He really got a poker face

His demeanor completely changed and fear washed over him but he knew the importance of staying calm and completing his commitment and knew the importance of validating these children.

You can tell his thoughts and his head is in a completely different place than in that classroom. Amazing that he held himself well infront of the kids and the teacher. What a crazy coincidence that he was in a classroom when this happened. It feels like something out of a disaster movie. But this was real life!

It’s actually pretty surreal to see him informed in real time as you hear the beeping in the background of the pagers.

Very very suspicious to be in that kind of setting when this all went down.

George probably started hearing that pen smack the paper 100x louder. Eyes got narrow, body tightened, and there was a certain aurora of uneasiness from him. Inside of his suit was probably soaked. Another 10 minutes trying to maintain presidential composure, especially in that environment; my man would've probably had to receive medical attention. As an American kid, you think the president will personally show up at the enemy's door. They can feel that belief when they're around children and know how much it means to them.

After he heard that he was not even listening to those kids his mind was a mile away

Why the cut out the rest of the words the kids were reading

Can’t imagine sitting in that classroom everyday and learning to read like that. No wonder so many were left behind.

The way he handled being told the news was really good. Not to jump up and startle the class full of children. Calmly let the teacher and students finish the lesson before leaving.

1st of all, so impressed by those kiddos and the teacher!! So uniform and orderly! Ironic watching the innocence in the classroom. In a way, it's comforting knowing what else was just unfolding😢

Everyone in the comments after all these years are still blind to the fact that this man literally knew everything that was going on that day. It’s really sad how deceived our nation still is.

The students were a class of 2nd graders. I was also in 2nd grade when 9/11 happened. I remember hearing in the news the days and months following that he was reading to 2nd graders and thinking, "he could've been in my class reading. I'm the same age as those kids and we'll always be the same age." Then I heard people making jokes about his reaction, and thinking that he did the right thing in front of those children.

You can tell he was surprised by the incident but he stayed physically calm in front of the children. Amazing. Edit : Can y’all stop bashing me.. Edit 2: STOP HATING MY OPINION😭

This happened when i was in middle school. It's truly heartbreaking to find out the truth as an adult.

He knew about it all along

The weight of the free world on his shoulders. I am not a fan of President Bush, but he acted perfectly in this situation.

This is the first time I’ve seen the whole thing and his reaction is entirely normal given the circumstances. What’s the right way to act when you're in front of a class of small kids AND the media, with cameras trained on you, and someone comes up and whispers that planes are being crashed into buildings? Nobody has ever had to deal with that before or since. Nobody could have prepared him for it, yet he handled it incredibly well. It also makes you realise how much power the media has (had?) in steering public opinion. They took short clips of this to make him look bad and whip up resentment.

I cannot imagine what must have been going through his mind at that moment. He may have been fighting back tears while looking at those children. Looking at this now after all these years have passed it's hard for me to fight tears just knowing what happened, seeing his reaction, and how he kept looking at those children knowing what he knew. No matter what you think of him as President or his politics, this was truly a defining moment showing his true stature as a man and President. The exact opposite of Cheney, who most likely is the sole person that set off the chain of events leading to everything that happened. Yet Bush got the blame.

There’s simply something so haunting about his expression and the shifting in his demeanour when the agent initially whispers in his ear… It captures such a crucial feeling of haplessness in the face of these moments we cannot control nor comprehend.

each of those seven minutes must’ve felt like a lifetime

Very profesional and calm , amazing reaction

Seems staged on several levels. If not, how about you get your ass up and go to work as president? Also, unrelated, that teachers methods were bizzare

He acted very well...we all believed he didnt know it already

Someone get this guy an oscar

“He’s so calm” says everyone. Think about it what was he supposed to do freak out. He is the man with the most amount of power in the country

Outstanding Elementary School Teacher.

He learned about it long before this moment

1:15 Mr President, mission accomplished.

>Mr. President, there was an terrorist attack. >I know >What? >What?

how coincidental he was at an elementary school,being filmed

This little clip is such an incredibly complex and surreal moment. There are so many incredibly interesting metaphors, symbols and meanings to this that I'd like to write in full about, so somebody please reply or like this so it reminds me to come back to this video sometime again

He already knew

“All is going according to plan sir”

I've never seen this whole video but this is fascinating. Say what you want about politicians, most very much deserve the criticism they receive but this really makes Bush seem a lot more human. You can literally see the internal struggle on his face as he's trying to process what he just heard while maintaining a professional demeanor for the kids.

I wonder how the person told the whole scene to the president in just seconds!

You can see how he smiles to see the kids learning to read then one of his staff whispers in his ear then changes to not feeling happy right now. Something was up.

He knew everyting...

21 years ago now..... RIP all victims in 9/11 who lost their lifes....

He was honestly in the worst place possible to learn what happened about 9/11. Like literally the worst place to try and stay super calm about!

I wonder why they didn’t rush the prez to safety if they knew we were under attack?

i will never forget this day

That's the face you make when you have a million things flying through your mind all at once.

He didn't learn about it. He already knew about it. This was pre-planned years ago before it happened.

This is an AMAZING teacher. Heartbreaking to have such a powerful lesson interrupted, and to have the President feign interest in something that would normally have been extremely awesome.

He was told a small plane crashed into one of the twin towers before this video, but it didn’t seem a big deal. Then he was told a second plane was hit and that they were under attack and he started realizing wha that means. After they finished the book, he went to the teachers lounge and watched the news, while trying to get more information.

I remember being in 3rd grade. The teacher told us something happened and class was over. I was excited because school was over early. Sometimes it's strange how things unfold from different perspectives.

George Bush learns that it’s too late to call it off.

He expressed calm while looking ticked off

as someone who was born 9 years after this i cannot say i feel as much pain as others but i send my deepest gratitude to everyone

I WILL NEVER FORGET!

Learned what he already knew

Something about this video makes me think staged lol

His composure is remarkable, this how a leader leads a nation in times of crisis

What a place for these kids to have been that day. Part of a piece of history

These are the kids who grew up with Dragon Ball. The legendary days of Toonami, Sailor Moon, Pokemon, Digimon, Gundam Wing, G Gundam, Tenchi Muyo, Ronin Warriors, Power Rangers, and other amazing cartoons and anime back then. Since then, I've worked at Pixar as an intern, and Deck Nine as a game animator. I was in science class in 6th grade when it happened. The mean science teacher turned on the television during class and I remember her saying, "This is sick" or "This is disgusting." She had all the students watch it during class. After kids went back to place with their parents, that was when it was all over the news and parents explained what happened. The same generation that can't find jobs or make money right now. That's the position I'm in.

You can tell he wasn’t in that classroom at the moment he was realizing he was responsible for everyones lives in that room.

Say what you will about Bush, but his composure as the nation's leader while the country was under attack in front of the classroom full of children, the future of the nation, stood strong and firm

Disregarding every single aspect of the political turmoil revolving 9/11, its just so interesting to see this take place, at a school no less.

Mr bush, aka mr skull and bones was a major player in 9/11.

He already knew about it , he helped plan it

This is so chilling

You knew he was extremely nervous but he didn't wanna frighten the students, that's a truly good president. Never forget.

have any of these kids or the teacher ever been interviewed in years since then?

I was a kid back then. still remember this on news.

After that first notice His mind was all over the place. I know that had to extremely stressful just recently getting in the Door and gotta deal with this.

It’s scary how he just sits there as the kids sing and he knows that the towers are under attack like he’s trying to process it

I can't believe he sat there. He very well could of said something to the teacher and the students. The look on his face was telling you, that he wasn't even in that room any more. A horrible day in America. Just absolutely horrible. Diane

What was the first thing he did after organizing his thoughts?

It’s weird to think that these students were the same age as me when the attacks happened and so now they are like 30. I will remember that sad day for the rest of my life. 😢