RC September 2024 Blog
The tragedy and loss of September 11th is still with us all, 23 years later. Even those too young to remember the events of that day still understand the gravity of what happened and how it changed the course of U.S. history. As we approach the anniversary, I wanted to share my unique perspective of that day: the view from the White House.
Our entire family had only moved from Texas to D.C., still very much settling in for my work in the Bush White House after only 9 months of being in D.C. I had worked for then-Governor Bush in Texas for six years, and my longtime mentor and head of Transition for Bush, Clay, invited me to join his presidential personnel team in the White House. My husband David had also secured a job in the new Bush Administration serving at the SBA. 2001 was Bush’s first year in office, and I was working in an area called Presidential Personnel (PPO), where I was in charge of recruitment and staffing for 1,200 presidential positions of the 4,000+ Bush had to staff in his first term. This was a huge undertaking and one of the most powerful tasks an American president has in his authority: to put people in place across the entire federal government and enact his policy and agenda while in office. My portfolio included Presidential Board and Commission appointments for about 280 boards across the Federal Government. I was also helping staff the White House Fellows Program and playing a key role in the recruitment of diversity candidates for some of the 4,000+ jobs to be staffed. The election recount in Florida meant we had a bit of a late start, so our White House PPO team was still hustling, working seven days a week to get everyone in place. There is a historical record that presidents set within the first 180 days in office, and the first few months are measured by the success in achieving the efficient placement of personnel to serve and represent the president. Clearly, we were at least 30 days behind due to the vote recount in Florida. This was also the start of fall in D.C., a season I had never experienced before outside of Texas. In Texas, there are four seasons: warm, hot, hot, and if we are lucky, a bit cool. I was looking forward to enjoying the true essence of the four seasons.
One of the perks of being a commissioned officer was having a parking space inside the White House complex, so I clearly remember David driving us to D.C. that morning. I was going to the White House, and he was going to the SBA; he was serving as a Schedule C presidential appointee in the Office of Public Liaison near the U.S. Capitol. As we drove into the district, admiring the foliage and falling leaves, we took in the beauty and cooler temperatures and, at the same time, felt the awe and humility of serving on the President’s team driving into the complex of the West Wing. Since I had full White House access and David didn’t, our routine every morning was that he would drive up to the security entrance, then head to the metro while I would take the driver’s seat to park inside the White House complex.
In my normal routine, I would arrive around 8:45 and have my coffee in the historic Old Executive Office, even using one of Nixon’s original desks, which was in my large ornate office, with a straight shot view out of my window of the West Wing press corps lawn. I would often pinch myself just staring outside that large window, thankful for the opportunity I had been given to serve Bush in his first term and the American people. That 9/11 morning, there was an added excitement in the air because the fall White House internship program had just started. I had two interns working with me and my deputies, and there were hundreds of interns who had literally just landed in D.C. and were making their way, ready to serve the new President for the semester. Also on my team were three deputies—Eric, Heidi, and Karen—and several PPO volunteers that morning, and we were all gearing up to orient these new students to get to the business at hand—as President Bush called it, “the People’s business.” As usual, we had the TVs on in the office showing the news, but my TV was on mute, and I had my back towards the screens as I looked out onto that beautiful West Wing lawn and drank my coffee, reflecting on the awe of the role I had been asked to undertake and all the exciting initiatives we had planned in the coming months.
All of a sudden, right outside my office, I heard chaos. People were running, yelling, screaming. As I stared into the window facing the West Wing, I saw hundreds of people running outside, away from the West Wing, across the White House lawn. It struck me, “something is very wrong.” I turned around, and that’s when I saw, on the muted television, the first images of the attack—the first tower in flames. None of us there knew what had happened, which just accelerated the sense of fear in everyone in the building. In stark contrast to the lovely, serene view I had of the West Wing lawn just a few minutes prior, I now saw hundreds and hundreds of people running for their lives across that scene. Keep in mind that at the White House, there are the political staffers—people each president hires upon taking the oath to bring with him to the White House, like me—and then there are the career staffers, long-term tenured staff that serve president to president. In total, each White House has about 500+ people who run the day-to-day of the White House, such as cooks, cleaners, and electricians. Everyone was fleeing the White House and West Wing, and moments later, the Secret Service came in, literally screaming at me, “Ms. Contreras, we must evacuate you NOW F---ING MOVE!” I was stunned and in shock but joined the rest of the executive staff in a mad rush exit out of the office. One agent came alongside me and further stated that some of the President’s team was being evacuated to “a secure location” and demanded I go with them. I was mortified; my children were hours away in Manassas, VA, we had no family in town, and my son was in 1st grade. My husband was somewhere near the U.S. Capitol, and our vehicle—the only way for our transportation—was stuck in a parking space inside the same White House complex I was being evacuated from. I made mention to the agent, “I need to get my car,” and he said, “Ma’am, you are not getting anything. We are leaving now.”
It was an incredibly scary time for all of us there; we were separated from family, all phone services were shut down in order to thwart terrorist communication, and we knew that America was under attack, but of course, we had no idea how this was going to change the trajectory of life in America.
Word had gotten around that one of the terrorist’s planes might be targeting the White House. As I was leaving the building (I had tried to stay with my staff and my very tearful interns, but the Secret Service demanded that I go with them and separated me from my team), I could hear some jets overhead, very low and loud, and that was frightening. I later learned there was a private house in the Georgetown area where about 50 of us were going to wait things out. We didn’t know at the time that these were fighter jets since we couldn’t see them, and that they had been sent in for protection of the airspace above us. And, of course, we later learned that the plane that was brought down in Pennsylvania was actually planning to hit the White House.
The whole morning was like a scene from the blockbuster film Independence Day, when the aliens were attacking. So much chaos and confusion, people fearing for their lives, uncertain what was happening. But through it all, I also felt a sense of purpose, as if my husband and I were in D.C. for a reason. I had the distinct feeling that it needed to be President George W. Bush who was going to lead us through this monumental turning point in history. It’s easy for anyone to criticize when you don’t feel the full burden of responsibility and leadership that a president endures, especially in such an extraordinary situation. We knew he would have to make some very difficult decisions, and he did it in a very agile way with tremendous resolve during an unprecedented time, while the whole world watched.
My husband and I finally reunited after literally hours and hours. And at 1 p.m., after an intervention miracle, we finally got home to reunite with our young children, Crystaline and Caleb. Thankfully, knowing we worked for Bush, our neighbors jumped in to help secure the children. After getting home, I was met in tears by my 8th-grade daughter, who ran to us in the cul-de-sac we lived in, crying and screaming, “I thought you all were dead! My teacher told me a 3rd plane was headed to the White House.” As I thought about it, I was furious at the irresponsibility of that teacher to announce in the classroom, knowing my daughter was in there, what the news projected. In hindsight, I understood everyone was just scared, and no one knew what was happening until much later. I was physically and emotionally drained, and I just crashed on my couch, relieved to have my family together and safe. I could hear in the distance, while I dozed in and out, the phone ringing off the wall and David talking with family and friends calling frantically, trying to get ahold of us. He explained, “We are all okay.”
I woke up about 2 hrs later and there was a voicemail on my blackberry phone from my boss Clay saying that the President wants everyone back at work tomorrow morning, business as usual. President Bush didn’t want the terrorists to disrupt us or affect our ability to govern and lead. So the next morning at 7 am sharp, I made my way back to the White House, David returned to his job at SBA also serving the President, and we all experienced the very surreal moment of being back there in the White House just 24 hours after the US was attacked but knowing we were about to be a part of something great. Although I didn’t want to leave our kids to send them off to school that day, both David and I knew, it was essential to get back to the work at hand, serving President Bush. Our children were so resilient and also rose to the occasion and headed back to class the next morning.
President Bush knew America needed leadership and that by going back to work and resuming normal activities, we would send a powerful message: the terrorists had failed to break us. He was determined to show that we would not cower in the face of evil and fear. That was George W. Bush's heart and conviction: to never let the terrorists win. To stand resolute in the face of terror. I was incredibly proud to serve a president who led with such strength during one of the darkest times in U.S. history.
I tell the complete story in my book Lost Girl where there’s a whole chapter dedicated to that time serving the President after 9/11. A week to the day after 9/11 we had a meeting with President Bush in the Oval Office on personnel and we thought surely we wouldn’t be seeing him that day, and probably not for a long time, as he dealt with the aftermath and navigated a new era in foreign relations. I was certain that personnel would be at the bottom of his priority list now, considering how much the world had changed. But he was there, front and center, ready to continue the business at hand. There were new protocols of course; for example, he and the Vice President were never in the same place after that. But he didn’t cancel the personnel meeting and the first thing he said to us when he sat down was “thank you”. He thanked us for coming back to serve. We all shared with him that we were praying for him, during this difficult time, and he responded by saying, “Pray, ask everyone you know to pray, we are going to need God’s sovereignty more than ever now.” I was just in awe.
What stood out the most to me – watching him and my boss Clay in action – was the resolve and fortitude of their leadership as well as the leadership of those the President had put on his closest team. He continued to surround himself with such smart people, which is especially important during a time of crisis. This really helped to shape my own leadership style going forward. I believe it is so important today when we face tragedy or loss or even bumps in the road that we know who we are, that we know our center and lead from that center. I saw President Bush do that, lead from his center convictions and core values. Another thing that struck me was how much more driven the White House team was after 9/11. Keep in mind that we were already working 6 days a week, 12-14 hours a day, so these were long days to begin with. But those of us who were there to serve the President, we felt a new energy, a sense of reform, feeling that we were there for a purpose much bigger than we had ever anticipated when we first arrived. We felt this new bond form, that will remain forever strong, as we worked closely together for a cause. To this day, 23 years later, when we get together we still share the same bond that brought us so close together.
No matter how many crises we face as Americans, especially in all of the divisiveness of today’s world, we can never forget 9/11 and how we came together like never before for a common cause. We were united – Democrats, Republicans, Independents. I feel that that has been lost, unfortunately. We could not be more divided today in 2024. My prayer and hope on this anniversary of 9/11 is that we remember what brings us together as a People is more important than what drives us apart. We don’t have to agree politically on policy issues or platforms that is what makes America beautiful and the diversity of thought and opinion. However, what binds us together is more important than what tears us apart. We are still one America. We are still one People with one goal, to keep this country thriving. We are the people of America, and we are not defined by our political leaders and party lines. I tell people: Impact where you are, in your community. Love and serve your neighbor. Listen to others and while you may not agree with your fellow American’s you can listen and learn as well as embrace what binds us together, the quest for Peace, value of our Democracy, the incredible honor to live in a Country that values and protects religious freedom and preserving the right to a free and fair election process. I saw us do that on 9/11 and I really hope that on this 9/11 anniversary we reflect on how we can find ways to do that again – working together in our local communities, and as Americans in this incredible country we have built together.
To read more about Rebecca’s experience working in the White House and her transformational journey to success, you can order your personally signed copy of Lost Girl from rebeccacontreras.com/lostgirl. Rebecca’s best-selling book is also available on Amazon via audible, kindle or hard copy version.
To subscribe and keep in touch with Rebecca join her at www.rebeccacontreras.com
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