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SEPTEMBER 12, 2001, WEDNESDAY, FINAL EDITION

SECTION: NEWS; Pg. A4

LENGTH: 935 words

HEADLINE: President scrambles in face of biggest test;

He emerges from all-day odyssey to reassure nation

SOURCE: Chronicle Washington Bureau

BYLINE: Marc Sandalow

DATELINE: Washington

BODY:
President Bush was in Florida speaking to Mrs. Sandra Kay Daniel's second-grade class shortly after 9 a.m. when his chief of staff, Andrew Card, entered the room and whispered something into his right ear.

The president stiffened and his smile turned serious. He quickly excused himself to a holding room, telling reporters on his way out that he would have something to say "later."

For most of the next 10 hours, the commander in chief remained away from the Capitol and out of the public eye. Flying at unusually high altitudes and surrounded by protective fighter jets, Bush traveled to an Air Force Base in Louisiana, to a command center in Nebraska, and finally to his home in Washington where he spoke on national television to the American people. On the 235th day of his presidency, Bush was confronted with the most violent act of aggression against the United States since the attack on Pearl Harbor six decades ago. The nation, the world, and ultimately history awaited the response from a man whose most serious tests so far had involved international skirmishes and matters of domestic policy that seem trivial by comparison.

"These acts of mass murder were intended to frighten our nation into chaos and retreat," Bush said during a prime-time address from the Oval Office. "These acts shattered steel, but they cannot dent the steel of American resolve."

"The search is under way for those who are behind these evil acts," Bush said, although he provided no details. "I've directed the full resources of our intelligence and law enforcement communities to find those responsible and to bring them to justice."

FEAR OF MORE ATTACKS

Bush's absence from Washington for the full day led to speculation that fears of further attack were more credible than was being publicly admitted.

As Vice President Dick Cheney and members of the president's national security staff huddled in the White House situation room, Bush spent much of his day aboard Air Force One, which his press secretary described as an "airborne command center." Bush finally returned to Washington -- accompanied by three fighter pilots -- only moments before sundown.

Security was clearly a top priority. The large pool of reporters who traveled to Florida with the president was cut to just five journalists as Bush traversed the South and the Midwest on Air Force One. Reporters accompanying him on the plane were not told where they were traveling, and were told to keep their cell phones off so as not to unwittingly give away their location.

The president first learned that a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center from Card and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, shortly before he addressed the second-graders at an event to promote reading in Sarasota, Fla. Reporters observed no change in his demeanor until Card, moments later, informed him of the second crash.

"The picture changed for the president immediately upon hearing of the second crash," Fleischer said. The first report could not be confirmed as a terrorist attack. Moments later it was clear that the tragedies were not accidents.

"At that moment, the president decided that he wanted to return to the (holding room) to ascertain information in the fullest fashion (and) to talk to other officials, which he did."

Bush, after receiving additional information from Rice, emerged to speak to a crowd of 200 people who had attended what had been billed as an education event. He informed the crowd the nation had endured a "national tragedy" and he would have to return to Washington.

SECURITY SWEEPS OF STAFF

Security tightened around the president. Some White House staff, even those wearing special Secret Service pins, were told to drop their gear for a second security "sweep."

Aboard Air Force One, the president called Cheney, and authorized putting the military on heightened alert. Reporters, flight crew, Secret Service agents, and many staff members had no idea where they were going.

The plane landed about an hour later at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana, where it was greeted by scores of Air Force personnel in full combat gear: green fatigues, flak jackets, helmets, and drawn M-16 rifles.

At Barksdale, the president met with General Tom Keck, and then made a series of phone calls before making a brief public statement condemning the attack. After spending almost an hour on the ground, the president departed for another undisclosed destination.

En route, he called a meeting of the National Security Council, spoke with New York Governor George Pataki and New York City Mayor Rudy Guiliani, and the vice president.

By mid-afternoon, Bush landed at Nebraska's Offutt Air Force Base, home to the U.S. Strategic Command, which controls the nation's airborne nuclear weapons. Until three years ago, the Strategic Command also housed the so-called Doomsday Plane that had been specially equipped to serve as a flying White House in the event of nuclear war.

There, the president conducted an hourlong meeting with top staff back in Washington, before re-boarding Air Force One to take him home.

Upon returning to the White House, Bush retreated to a study off the Oval Office to work on his remarks to the nation, which were largely written by speechwriter Mike Gerson and counselor Karen Hughes.

The five-minute address marked the first time Bush had addressed the nation from the Oval Office. He offered a prayer and an excerpt from Psalm 23. He concluded by saying that "none of us will ever forget this day." E-mail Marc Sandalow at msandalow@sfchronicle.com

GRAPHIC: PHOTO, Chief of Staff Andrew Card informed President Bush of the plane attacks at a meeting in Florida. / Associated Press

LOAD-DATE: September 12, 2001