Ari Fleischer Recreates Sept. 11 With Minute-by-Minute Tweets

Ari Fleischer, the former White House press secretary that worked for president George W. Bush, memorialized September 11 this year by recreating a play-by-play of the morning's tragic events on Twitter, which did not exist when the World Trade Center was attacked in 2001.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Fleischer was with President Bush at a Florida elementary school when the news of the attacks broke. Back then, he noted, there were no iPhones, Twitter, or even Facebook. His tweets — timed to the minute with the events of that morning in 2001 — give a fascinating insight into how the news would have traveled had it happened today, as well as the minute-to-minute thoughts of the president and his team.

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Below is a selection of Fleischer's tweets. For the full timeline, visit Ari Fleisher's Twitter page.

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

After the President finished shaking hands, Karl Rove informed him of what we thought had to be an "accident."
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2014

9:00 POTUS goes into a holding room and calls Condi. He instructs her 2make resources avail to help NY, still thinking it was an accident.
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2014

After the call, POTUS goes into the classroom and starts reading a book to the kids. The press is in the back of the room.
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2014

I suspect by now most people are watching TV, watching events unfold. I was in the classroom with the President watching the reading event.
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2014

9:03 United Flight 175 crashes into the South Tower.
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2014

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

Just before Andy walked in, I got a 2nd page saying the 2nd tower had been hit. I knew instantly it had to be terrorism.
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2014

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

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

We boarded the motorcade and drove [fast] to Air Force One, planning for a return to Washington, D.C.
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2014

9:37 American Airlines Flight 77 crashes into the Pentagon.
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2014

POTUS is told of attack on the Pentagon by either the Secret Service in the front of the limo, or by Condi on the phone. I don't remember.
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2014

9:45 We boarded Air Force One. I was in my seat for the takeoff and then spent most of the rest of the day in the President's cabin.
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2014

FOne Capt. Mark Tillman told me 10 yrs later that we took off at unusually steep ascent bcause he had a report of a sniper at end of runway.
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2014

Colonel Tillman also told the media years later that the control tower told him that an unidentified plane was descending toward AFOne.
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2014

in the President's cabin, I was busy taking notes. He was mostly on the phone with the VP, SecDef Rumsfeld, Gov Pataki and Mayor Giuliani.
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2014

9:59 The South Tower of the World Trade Center collapses.
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2014

10:07 United Flight 93 crashes in a field in Pennsylvania.
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2014

Around 10:20: Bush authorized military to go to Def Con 3, the highest level of military alert since the 1973 Yom Kippur War.
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2014

Here is a scene aboard AFOne in POTUS's cabin, enroute Barksdale. pic.twitter.com/ayAgN7Efuv
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2014

We left Barksdale enroute Offut Air Force Base in NE, a secure location where Bush could convene a meeting of the National Security Council.
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2014

Bush started to receive heavy criticism for not returning to DC. Peter Jennings of ABC & Brian Williams, then on MSNBC, led the charge.
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2014

3:10 We landed at Offut Air Force Base & parked next to a Doomsday plane. They used to be in the sky 24/7 to order nuke strikes if needed.
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2014

Here's what a Doomsday plane looks like. It was eerie just to see it, especially that day. pic.twitter.com/OkDsNqxi8b
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2014

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

The President convened a meeting of the NSC. Here's a photo taken at the time. that I later found on the web. pic.twitter.com/01wq8EhgB7
— 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

The President addressed the nation from the Oval Office. Before he spoke, I briefed the press in my office. pic.twitter.com/Yhkqp3QCFt
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2014

I don't remember what time I got home that night. It was a long day - and its ramifications, as world events today show, still haven't ended
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 11, 2014

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