•rin--.

WHITE HOUSF RECEIVED

O f f i c e - of l.hr? Pros:; S e c r e t a r y MAY 2 2 2 0 0 3

National Commission on
Terrorist Attacks
I n t e r n a l Transcript Auqust '/, 200?.

INTERVIEW OP CHIEF OF .STAFF ANDRl-.'W CARD

BY RON FOURN IER OI-1 AP

O f f i c e of t lio C h i e f oi . S t a f f

2 : 1 0 P . M . liDT

0 I ' d k i n d oi l i k o to s t . a r t , you - j u s t w a l k mo t.riroucjh

your e x p e r i e n c e of 9 / 1 1 , and t hem let.'.s s e u u e .

M R . CARD: T h a t ' . ' ; a day none of u.s iv i J I evei J oj get ,

a I I h o u q b my more? m e m o r a b l e day is act.ua.l \y .Sept omboi M t - . l i . IHit.
Sept ember l l t . h , I remoniber c j e r t i IKJ u}-), f co I i nq as i f t ho
I'r o:; i dont was cjoing to have v;h,it [ c a l l .1 ; ; < ) f t c i a y . Wo woi o
cjo.i ncj to do n r e a d . i i K j , and ho -/;crit for a run on i ho qo i f coiir.sf 1
i l u w n at w h a t e v e r t ho t o n n i : ; n r j d boric)) c l u l ; v,,i:; /.•" v ; c r c • • , t < r / i i i ( ]
at . A m i t horo war:> a . s t . r n n q cji'lor i n t ! i o a i r . 1 d o n ' t i oincmbor
i t ycui - t hie bc:<acli r CM i J y i n n o l l o d lic'c.uii'.o t h c - i - i - v; ( . ' ! ' • a lot of
doar! f i sh t.hat. had b«.'C?n war.hc-d up on t h e b e a c h .

And ho came back f r o m h i y w a l k , and I r.av/ h i m , went in t'o

( j e t e h a i K j o d rind wo wi.'nt o l f t i • t h e 1 r.cliool . And I l < d t a:; i f
i t ' ;-. f u n n y , I f e l t as L ( i t v,,n; a b i q q o r d.r/ t h a n w < > t c;a 1 i /. c-'d,
but .1 had no concept of. w h a i : h a ( } > i q c i o r day .va.-: . ( h i t 1 k r j e w it
wa;; c / o i n c j Lo lie a s o f t d a y . I w a y l o o k i n q l o j w a r d l o <;pc'!iiiq my
;; j r , tor who had come? down to t h e nchoo! f i o.'ri '1'al 1 aha:;:u?o.', and :;o
T was q o i n c ) I. o see my s i ;U er at t h e school .

O Can ! st.op y o u ? W h y ( J j d y o u t ) ) j ; i k
V^' l~S j • J \ . V* I t f V4 J V4 Y V-/ l * it
l i t * was c j o i n g t o \_>c
a h i C K J I >r day boc - ti'i«;c? i t 'was ?.-.neh a so

M R . CARD: Yo:;, bec-ausc? i t . was such a s o f t d a y . I

reinembor b e i n c j s t r u c k - 1 wakc j u}) e a r l y a n y w a y , };ut I woko up
oar 1 i or' t h a n i n o r m a l J y do. And T was; k i n d of c h a r q e d and r e a d y
to uo, w o n d e r i n g w h o r e t he P r e s i d e n t w a s , and he was a l r c ? a d y out
runniricj. And so 1 was k i n d of w a i t i n c j for t lie d.»y ' o b(?y i n ,
w i t h c i n t i ci pa t i o n , C^VHJI I houcjh I knew i t was ,: so f t d a y .

000027

r
 And 1 remember g o i n g irit.o the h o l d l n e j room b e f o r e he went
i n t o t h e 1 c 1 assi'oom, and it w < i s J ri t h e h o l d i n g room t h a t
!">i t u d t i e>n was t r y i n g to roach u s . Cal (?) got. on t h e - phone-, was
t o ! el a p l a n e - had hit the Wor 1 el Traele C e n t e r , the f i r s t p l a n e . f
then jumped on the? phone and we t a .Iked •• • j u s t , b e f o r e t h e
P r e s i d e n t went i n t o the room w L t h the school k i e l s , T remember we?
had a ve°j y b r i e f c o n v e r s a t i o n , but it was what, a h o r r i b l e
a c e - j d e n t , t he pi J e^t must have; had a h e a r t a t t a c k . And we
t h o u g h t t h a t i t w a s a t w i n - e n g i n e prop p l a n e ? a t that, p o i n t .

Q Those? were' the-* f i r s t reports;

M K . CARD: A t w i n - e n g i n e prop p l a n e , h o r r i b l e a c c i d e n t ,
p i l o t m u s t have had a h e a r t a t t a c k . And he went i n t o the
classroom. i then • we got a t e l e v i s i o n i n t o the h o l d i n g
room t h e n , so we did some l o g i s t i c s t h i n g s -- t e l e v i s i o n in,
get the t e l e v i s i o n e j n . Ariel then word carne? t h a t a second p l a n e
h a d h i t a n e l t h a t t h e ? f i r s t p l a n e w a s a j e t l i n c ? r a n e l t h e second
p l a n e was a j e t l i n e r .

And J remember t f u n k i n g to m y s e l f , what w o u l d f want to

k n o w i I I w e r f t ho P r e s i d e n t , w h i c h is k . i n e l e > f my t e s t f e~>r a
day And I w o u l e l w a n t l e) k n o w . And se) 1 stood - I cracked
t h e door i n t o the e:.l a s s r e>om - t lie h o l d i n r j room was; l i e j h t ne>xl
to t h e - c l a s s r o o m . Anel I c r . a e - k e e l t h e de>or e>pen and I i s I e-Mie^d , and
! could heaj students t a l k i n e i - J a c ' t . u a l l y h e a r e ! a t oae'her
t a i k i r i g r i n d s t u d c ' i i t s i es3pune] i nei . And 1 e ] e c - i d e ' e J t h a t [ w o u l d
s t e p i n t o t ho r oe.nn a n e l l i s t e n for a t i m e ? to i n t e r r u p t . .Sen 1
t o o k one s t e > p i n t e ; t h e ? room, s t o o d back a g a i n s t the wa I 1
t lie' door was s h u t anel I looked over anel r saw the pre-ss
poo] . And J t h i n k it was'; Ann Compton who look eel up at rue.
she> m o u t h e d , " w h e a t ' s ; up, " e^r s o m e t h i n g . And r h e ? l d up two
f i n g e r s , ' and r n e > u t h e e l , "second p l a n e . ' . "

Then t h e r e 1 w a s a s l i g h t , b r e a k i n t h e meet. I J K . J a n e l t h a t
when F w o n t up to the P r e s i d e n t , w h i s p e r eel i n t o h i s ear .
t . r j e e J t o be ve j r.y, very ef f J ci erjJ^--wT"frFr my worejs, a n e
cemsc i OIM;! y (jJ^rrrfenTT T sa'fd, "A second p l a n e hit t h e
t eiv/ei^^—rcrTTei i e - a is u n c l e a r . i t ' t a c k . " T h a t ' s ; l i t c ^ r a l ly w h a t I
i in.

Q D i d ye)ii know a t t h e t i m e - - it was short ly a f t e r the

s;t'com1 p l a n e h i t . w e he-are: t h a t , t h e F B I s u s p e c t e d t h a t t h e > s e
planes were h i j a c k c ? d . D i d y o u know a t t h e 1 t i m e t h a t t he;y w o r e
h i jacked?

MK . C A K D : f eli d not .

000028
 Q A l 1 you kii(-~'w was two jpt l i n e r s , two Ioweic.

MK. (,'AKi): I knew t h a t j i c o u l d n ' t have been a coincidence.

So rny editor.ia.l comment was "America is under attack." It was a
factual statement , a second piano hit the second tower; and the
editorial comment was that. "America is under attack." And that
was my own judgment because 1 just - it couldn't be a
coinci denco.

And 1 stopped bock, and then - - - stepped back to the

doorway. And lie w a i t e d , i don't know, maybe 30 seconds, not
very long, and then fie excused himself from the classroom and
came into the holding zoom.

Q Let me stop you here for a minute. The phrase,

"America .is under a t t a c k , " did you do any kind of internal
e d i t i n g , t h i n k i n g t h r o u g h t h a t phrase, thinking through exactly
what: you were- going to say before you walked up to him, or did
.it l i t e r a l l y 'just

HH . CAP.fi: No, I ' houeiht about what I was going t o say t o

h i in ticLotc I went I wanted to ho very e f f i c i e n t w i t l i my
words.

Q Why did you t h i n k J l was important to tell him that,

t h a t America was undc-v. a t t a c k ? One course could have been -just
t e l 1 hi in wh.it happened and let him make his own cone: 1 usi on. Why
did y o u decide t o in,ike t h . i t e d i t o r i a l comment, a s y o u t o l d i t ?

MK. f'AKiJ: .1 CHIPS:-. I wanted him to know the griivity of .it .

.1 viewed t h i s as a ve.'y g r a v e situation, so F used those words.
But. more t h a n t h a t , J wanted it to be very succinct. T did not
want to stand up in Iront. of the cameras and have a conversation
w i t h h i m . 1 d i d n ' t want him to turn to me and say, what are you
t a l k i n g about . .So [ t r i < •< I l o pick terms that would not i n v i t e a
ronver sat i on.

y And i t worked.

MR. C.'AKD: 1 don ' t know t h a t I knew that it would work

be I or e I d i d i t , but

y .'Jo he gels t h < ' message "loud and clear at t h e event,

arid he walks out .

000029
 MR. CARL): Then he came i n t o ' hie h o l d i n g room and qot on
t h e phone, t a l k e d t o t h e S i t u a t i o n Room

O lie did?

MR. CARD: He d i d .

Q Do yon know who he t a l k e d t.o?

MR. CARD: I b e l i e v e - i t was C o n d i . Arid by then, we had CNN

on, or Fox, one o( t h e - s t a t ions on on the TV in the ho.lding
room, so we could see i t . And they kept p l a y i n g it. over and
over , the planes crash i rig i n . And so you could see it. And
then we quickly moved i n t o q o t t i n g ready to move from that venue
on to Air Force One, m a k i n g sure that Secretary Paige knew and
could take over the event , which was in a larger auditorium;
crafted what t he Pr e.s i dent would say when he walked out into the
aud ; t on urn.

Q (low did I l l i c i t w r i t mo process qoV That was the First

remarks he had on t h e at t ticks..

MR. CARD: We stood t h e r e and Ari was t h e r e , K a r l Rove, Dan

Hart: J e t I no yes., IVm was there. And t lie President was
w r i t i n g I lie remarks, so t h e y weren't w r i t t e n for h i m , he was
wr i i i nu I hem.

0 W i t h input f r o m t h i s qroup, I assume.

MH . C A R D : Y e s , wo v . - i - r e , t l j :; t and i nq a r o u n d t a 1 k i nq . I
t h e n r a n cm t t o c h e c k t I •.< • ! ou : s t j cc; i n t h e ina i n , T t. h.i nk i t was
a ( j y m n a s i u m , and l e t t h e a d v a n c e I vain • r.aicJ the- President.
w o u l d b e l e a v i n g , . S e c r e t , M V ! a i c j i - ' w o u l d b e s t a y i n g ; qot t h e word
to 5;eo r r?t ar y P a i g e 3 . So 1 did k i n d of the l o q i n t Lcs r > L d e of i t .
A c t u a l l y d i d t r a c k my s i s t e r down and s a i d t.o my s i s t e r , two
plane?:-; c r a s h e d i n t o t h e W o r l d T r a d e C e n t e r i n M e w Y o r k , a n d
w e ' r e e m i n q t o have t o l e a v e , w o c a n ' t s t a y . .','ho qave me a h u g ;
tha t w r i s a l l i sa i d t ( • h e j .

(.) D i d she s<-iy air, t h i n u t o you?

MR. CARD: .She was k i n d oi in shock . She came' bubbling up

to me? • she had no c l u e what was qoing on. Because these
peop I e had been in t h a t room a h a l f an hour ahead of time. I
did say, pay at tent i or: . Two planes hit the WorJd Trade Center
in New York, and we're q o i n u t o have t.o leave.

000030

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 c o m m u n i c a t i o n s w a s e s t a b l i s h e d w i t h Washi n g t . o n , w i t h t.lio
. S i t u a t i o n Koc>m, w i t . l i t lie PKOC, who wns JIM the.- PKOC, w h e - r o wa.s
the v i c e Pr o.s i d e n t . Went t h r o u q h t h o s e k i n d s of i o q . i s t i c s .

0 How did you d e t e r m i n e who as in l he PKOC? .1 ' i n j u s t ,

curious. Had (.here a l r e a d y been

MR. CARD: Situation tells us. So - they t o l d u s .

C a p t a i n hauer (?) .in the S i t u a t i o n Room, who i s now A c . L m . i r a J , a
w o m a n , was on the p i a n o and she? was t h e repr esent.a t i vo of t h e
NSC on the t r i p . .So she d i d a lot of t h e 1 eqwoi k , r u n n i n g
u p s t a i r s , u p t o t h e c o m m u n i c a t i o n s team o n t l i o p l a n e .

And then I h u d d l e d -- t h e P r e s i d e n t k i n d of worked the

phones w i t h t lie V i c e P r e s i d e n t arid S e c r e t a r y K u m s f e l d . I spent
q u i t e ? a bit of t i m e up in his .sleeping area on t lie p l a n e ,
t a l k i n q w i t h t h e Secret .Service arid t h e M i J i t a r y O f f i c e a b o u t
w h a t w e s h o u l d d o w i t h t h e p l a n e , w h a t t h e t h r e a t s w e r e , where 1
s h o u l d we go. Anel we were.' f l y i n g a sc^rpenl i ne j e n i t e , j aneied in
F..OU i s i a n a .

O Why was L o u i s i a n a chosen?

MI<. CARD: l - ' i r s t of. a 1 1 , it haei a lonq r u n w a y . It was a

has i.1 t h a t was a l r e a d y on a l e r t because?, / or I. u i i ous.l y , t h e y wej e
r u r m j T i q an e x e r c i s e , so I hey were a l r e a d y on a l e r t and
e > b v i o u s l y , had goe>d c:ommtin i c:at i o n s . Arid i t was we! 1 out of t h e
way o f a n y t h i n g i n t h e area where t h e P r e s i d e n t v/as i n F l o r i d a .
B u t >ve I r i ed t.o keep it v e r y q u i e t as t o w i n .• e •-•.•<• v.-e-i e q o i n q .

U I r emenibei - 1 was here.-, t r y i n g t o [ i nd out wlieie

ye;>u were.

M ! ^ . CARD: Then w e went f r o m there up t o N e b r a s k a .

(,) f she^ulel have knowr t . ) ) i s o f f . t h e l o p of n-y h t % < K )

w h e r e was I he f i r s t • the n e x t p r e s i d e n t l a l <;l « i t ement was i ri
Barksdale, wasn't it?

MH . CAKD: Tn I,oui.siana we maele a s t a t e m e n t , and i t was by

t a p e . Wo went, to one c o n f e r e n c e room and hael a b r i e f m e e t i n g
a n d e l o c i d e d t h a t i t won! el b e b e t t e r t o b r i n g t h e 1 p r e s s t o where
t h e cominaneier of. the ba.se1 w a s , te; his c o n f e r e n c e t oom. .So we
moveel p r o b a b l y anothe?r mi l < ^ and a h a l f I roru orje c f ) n ) e i e u c e
f a c i l i t y t o t h e commander':; o f f i c e . W e h a d ine?c.'t i ) K j s i n t h e
c o m m a n d e r ' s o f f i c e , telephone m e e t i n e j s back h e r e w i t h W a s h i n g t o n
a n d t h e ? Defense D e p a r t m e n t . A n d we? e ' r a f t e e ! t h e s t a t e - m e r i t . , a n d

000032
 then he gave t:he statement there. It. was on tape, mid then sent
out. to you guys.

Q Why was .Sept- ember '14th more memorable to you?

MR. CARD: W e l l , it. related to how J saw the President,

being President. The J4t. h was that. Friday, and it. was a day
that included some very unusual things. The President, did his
CIA b r i e f i n g in the morning; lie did an FBI briefing that
m o r n i n g , arid 1:hat wa.s the morning when T think t h a t lie basically
directed a c u l t u r e change in t'he FBI.

T don't think many Presidents have had briefings from FBI

directors. Maybe going back to Kennedy days; or before, they
did. But in my adult l i f e t i m e , Presidents don't normally meet
with FBI director to get an intelligence briefing. This
President d i d . And during that briefing, the FBI Director
focused <>j! what happened on September 1 1 t h : they got an the
planes h e r e , they got t h e i r r i c k c t s there. And the President
kind of j ii t ei r ~upt ed him and said, t h i s is not about b u i l d i n g a
case for prose-cut ion, t h i s should be about preventing t h e next
at lack. What ' s the1 inf el .1 i gence on the next attack:'

And t h a t was a ci.l t ure change to the FBI. Their psyche had
been b u i it , in my opinion, around f i n d i n g spies and b u i l d i n g
cases for [>r'.>soou t j on .

0 What was h i s demeanor when he said t h a t ? Was i t k i n d

of flipping o f f Mueller

MR. CAR!): No, no. It was a l i t t l e - bit of a b r u p t s h i f t .

It was I i k e , t h a t 's not what we're here about . ft was kind of
i t was d i r ect i ona 1 .

0 And M u e l l e r had no reason to

MR. CARP: Oh, no, it wasn't hostile, it wasn't" - i t was

! t h i n k i t was a mindset s h i f t that t lie President fomrnanded.
S t a r t t i n nk; no about pr even t i nci the next at.tack.

(,) Now, is, t h i s something that you guys had t a l k e d about

before t h a t meet, .i ng?

MR. CARD: \d talked to the President either on

Wednesday or Thursday -- must have been Thursday, thru, f would
recommend t h a t he get an FBI b r i e f i n g , because the f.'JA does not
collect i n t e l l i g e n c e inside t h e "Jnited States. And these

000033
 attackers all carne i roin inside the United States. And lie said,
yes, he wanted to have an FBI hrietincj. So that 's how it.
star teel.

Q 'In your head were you thinking t h e reason to get t ho

FBI in there is be>cause they don't get Intelligence from inside
t ho United States •- were you thinking i t ' s because you need
to bo brie} eel, .sir, by these folks; on what, happened in tin? U.S.
about 9 / 1 1 , or were you t h i n k i n g you need to be b r i e f e d about

MR. CARD: 1 was thinking, we should know what's happeming

in the United States. It's one thing to know what, happened in
the U n i t e d 5>tates, but we should know what i 5; happening in the
U n i t ed States.

0 Wan the? re any thing in that: conversation w i t h the?

Pros i dent, t h e private? conversation, that indicated that he was
/nokinq that Jeap, as; w e l l ?

MR. CARD: Oh, he d e f i n i t e l y was. lie war; d e f i n i t e J y

focusing on prevent ing t ho next a t t a c k . And pun i .sh i nq those who
conducted t h e at tack. Ho .had moved, on 5->opt ember "12th, we're
going to get those guys. He was - t bo; e was no doubt in my
mind that ho viewed thir; as an act of war.

(,) Muol Ler walk:; i n , g i v i n g the President, of t he United

St.it I-;; t In- k i n d of br i f f :mi he'd always given and expected t o
(j i v t •

MR. CARD: / ^ d u a l l y , again, I don't t h i n k and FR1 director

ever gave any brief, ing.

C> But he's coming in w i t h the mindset aJ 1 o{ us would

have, J o t ' s t e l l t h e Pro.si dent what happened on t h i s horrendous
day jus;t t hree or four days e a r l i e r . And the President says,
no, I want to know wh t -tt we're doing to prevent the next one.
What was his reaction when he? got t h a t , s h i f t of

MR. CARD: Ho basic-ally said, we'll f i n d out, we' 1 ] look.

And i t was a culture s h i f t . And there's not a doubt in my mind
that he went back over to tlic FBI and said, the President wants
us to be able to answer the questions as what's coming next, and
how do we prevent it irorn happening.

T don't want you to stop there on the J 41 h, because; t h a t

happened I o be? the ( i r:5;l hemr of the day. The CTA, FBI war; in

000034
 the f i r s t 30 minvit.cs of the day. The President then held a
Coin not meeting, and it. was a remarkable Cabinet, meeting be?causo
t h e President used i lie term, "war council." He obviously,
r a i l e d on the Sec-rot t u y of State and the Secretary of. Defense
and t he A t t o r n e y General. But then I was .imp reused w i t h how (.hie
Fr es id (-.Tit went around the Cabinet table and talked about the
r espons ibi 1 i t ies of each Cabinet member ••- I ' l l be l i g h t i n g
this war against terrorism and ho called i t a war
talked about the war council. He talked about the role that
.State had to play and Defense had to play and the Justice
Depa r t rnent had to play.

But then he went -- he talked about the need for others

to do their job for the taxpeiycrs . We've got to continue to
work on housing. Me] Martinez; and you've got to continue to
work on I lie environment, C h r i s t i e Todd Whitman; and you've got
to cont inue to work on tho economy, Paul O ' N e i l 1 . And he went
around, l i t e r a l l y , to every Cabinet member, and he t o l d them
t h e i t mission leave- no child behind in education; we've? got
to make sure all of the funct. ions of the government are working
w h i l e wc.> get the.se people. And it was an inclusive- meeting anci
i t showed the breadth oi t h i n k i n g that the President had. And
Ui.it was p r e t t y impressive to me, that lie understood t h a t
cjovi/t nment had to tunct ion, t h a t it couldn't come t o a
r.t .incir.t i l l .

lie was worried about the.' shock to the economy of the

fjeptember N t h attack. Then a l t e r that Cabinet meetincj - arid
t h a t had been spectacular. I t was a real sign <>f executive
l e a d e r s h i p , the Kxooui. i ve Branch of government . Then we went to
t h e N.it i ona I Cathedral for a p r a y e r service. And t h a t was an
uni»• I i ovab 1 r> experience. You hud an imam and a i abbi and an
orthodox p r i e s t , you had a Catholic priest, you had an
Kpiscopalian m i n i s t e r , you had B i l l y Graham g i v e the last sermon
to i he w o r l d , b a s i c a l l y , t h a i he' 11 give in hi;; l i f e probably.
And t h e President, made comments, we sang hymns, we prayed. And
t i n - .iudi<T:ce was gone-als anil admiral:; and rnomb'. •? ::• of Congress
and s e n a t o r s anil governors and •uri iissador s . J nn.-an, t h a t was
r (on,: r kab I e .

And then we went, froni the National Cathedial to New Jersey,

got on a lie I i copter with Governor Pataki arid Mayor G i u l i a n i , and
f '1 f. \\- 10 Hanhat tan . And then saw Ground Zero. And he stood up
on i h e f i j o engine and told t h e world that they would hear us.
Then he wont and he r .all Led a l l of the rescue workers and those
who were being staged to go in and rescue. And then he had a
phenomenal mooting with t lie families of the pol i cemon and

000035
 f lie-men t h a t were s t i l l missing. And those people were still
fi.1 led w i M i hope t h i i l t h e i r loved ones would bo l.ound; they
weren't . Bui i l was exlrernoly emotional. Arid lie did not. get. up
and g i ve a speech or go to the microphone, he went to each
i n d i v i d u a l person, and hugged, cried, laughed, consoled,
counseled. And he d i d it. on behalf of all ot us.

I t wasn't about h i m , it was about America. And he was

c o m f o r t e r in ch.ioL at l.hat. moment . And fie would not be rushed.
He was scheduled t a be there for like 4L> minutes; he ended up
s l a y i n g lot over two hours.

And t lien we got on a plane- and we flew up to Harjerstown and

went to (."amp David. And it war, the l i t t l e plane -• it was a
couple See-ret Service agents, a doctor, a mil aide, a nurse, me
and the President . And he war. completely exhausted. He was
emot i o n a l l y exhausted, he war; spiritually exhausted, lie was
p h y s i c a l l y exhausted, he was mentally exhausted. But 1 believe
that day he did everything that a President could be expected to
do. lie was he changed t lie culture in a bureaucracy; broke
new ground in term:; of t r y i n g to nnder<;tand what. ' s going on
i n s i d e l.hc U n i t e d .Stale:; w i t h regard to i n 1e I 1 J gence and
t e r r o r i s t act i v i t y ; convened a Cabinet, talked about convening a
war counci 1 a:; Commander in C h i e f ; directed his Cabinet to meet
t he i r <>l>\ qa I i ons of govern i Jig .

Then he ;ioo:; t <.• I lie-1 Nat ii.-n.il Cathedral arid leads not only
Hie nat i e j i , but the whole wor !d in prayer, arid shows that, t h i s
if, about soiii' -r In rig bigger t h a n us. And I think the c a l l i n g was
real . Then |;i- goes to Now York and r a l l i e s the rescue workers,
comfort.''; t h e farni I i os of the v i c t i m s , and sends a message1 to the
world t h a t A m e r i c a wi I I be heard. I --• it was just a
r erna r kab 1 o d,;y .

Q Do you remember any conversation on Marine One going

up to Camp Uav i d'.-

MR. C/\HI): You know, J don't normally talk about rny

conversat ions w i t h h i m . And 1 ' rr. a f r a i d to do it. now. But 1
said to h i m , Hr . President, you'te a great President. 1 said, 1
l i t e r a l l y s a i d , 1 have no right to say this, because history
wi 1 1 judge il , but you're? a great President. You did everythirig
that a President: could ever be expected to do, and you did it in
one day. I t a l k e d about his r o l e as Commander in Chief and
managing (he government and r a l lying a country and the world,
comfort, inn people who were in need. And 1 can't t h i n k eof
anything t h a t he did not do w e l l t h a t day.

000036
 (,) W h a t war; hi;-, r e p l y ' Hero's l h i .'j .'it. I ho end of. one of
the worst weeks o f h i s l i t e .

MR. CARD: I d o n ' t c h i n k ho s a i d much. J think ho said,

t.hank you, or noniet. h i mj . It was h e ' s not f i J led w i t h
braggadocio. H o ' f; a v e r y humble p e r s o n . And 1 d o n ' t r>ee thi.s
as- - 1 d o n ' t t h i n k t h a t IK.- bo] i eved t.lii s as about, liiin; 1
think i 1. ' r, about t lie i o:.;pons i b i I i t ! c s t h a i he lias and how ho i s
prepared to meet tho:;c t espons i bj 1 i r i or; . .So I see a lot. of
f a . i t h J n him t ) i a t «;ilJow:; him t o be nioco huml).le t h a n u J oL oL
other pol i t ir i cMi:; w o u l i l be.

Q Tell mo how t h i s year has i t ' G a f f e c t e d a l l o f u;

personally, one way or a n o t h e r . How i t n £ f e < : t : e ? c 3 you, h o w
has it chanqed you?

MR. C A R D : How ha:: it f l u i i u j o d mo ' I quo-?;:'; T crome t.o

appi ec i a t o m o r e 1 ( > x < > e t ly whiil we have as a n a t i o n , and how much
re:.;pert I have (or I he s p i r i t o f our people. T d o n ' t think
anyone c o u l d have a n t i c i p a t e d hew many peuplo u n i t e d in America
a f t e r September 1 I t h . I I ' :. a l m o s t a:; if I here was a ruaqic wand
t h a t went over t he land and a l lowed people I o reoocjn i /o how
p o t t y t ho d i I 1 c>r oncer, a i e , but how common out v a l u e s are. And
so we t e n d e d l o f o c u s i n o r i - on I ho v a l u e r ; t h a n wo did on the
pet I y d i f f er enoes.

And t h a ; i mpi ossrd me. 1 f e e l a:; if 1 am e x t r a o r d i n a r i l y

l u c k y to be w h e r e I am. and I know t h a t 1 am w h e t e f earn because
of t ho count r y and I he s y s t em t ha I. wo have, not because of
any t.h i nq 1 d i < i .

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Anci t.hi s was

the name t h i n g on .Sept ember 1 l i b . I s a i d , t i n s is a job that:
has to bo done and I'm going i-o make sure it gets clone?. I went
righl. to i. hi.' .Seer el .Service and i went r i g h t to t h e A i r Force
crowd, and .said, wc> have a job t <> do, now we've (jot. t.o do it...
Let':; ge?l I ho mot oread-. • up here, let ' :; get people moving.

0 You've changed in way:;, 1 ' vo changed in w<-iyr;,

everybody ha:> chunqcul in way.s. How has t h e President., George
Bush a.s a man, boon af l e r l ed by ')/ I 1?

MR. CARD: W e l l , everybody i n America was -- 1 think

everybody in t h e world was a L f e e t e d who is a c i t i z e n of the?
world. I mean, if you're? i n f o anarchy, you probably didn't
change. But. I don't think t h e chataeter of the Presidc?nt.
changed at a l l . i t h i n k what happened was more people1 came to
see the character of the President. A giant, spotlight wont on
the President , and you arc- now seeing arid you saw it.
before, so .1 ' m riot - people now SOB what even you probably
saw when lie was a candidate.

0 The problem is when I ask thai question, people around

here think f 02 a (• ranslormat ion of the.' President

MR. CARD: There was no t i a n s f o r mat ion

000038
 Q Right, that's riot the quest-ion I'm asking. I ' rn asking
has he -•

MR. CARD: I think that, he sees now a mission. There is a

calling that, has come to him, and C don't mean this as a
religious calling. There is a responsibility that .is resting on
his shoulders, and he understands that. And he w i l l carry the
responsi bi 1 i t:y through to its end, even when you've forgotten
about i t . And 7 think that.' s what's changed. He is a man with
a mission. Tt is a higher calling for, I think, freedom and
democracy and civilization.

You know, the strcinge thing about the atvtack on Sept ember
llth, every other attack that t h e United States has had to
suffer through - - and that, may bo an overstatement •• but
any other attack of any magnitude that America had to suffer
through came from either another nation or another philosophy
the Civil War, World War I, World War I J , the Spanish-
American War, the Cold War. This attack came 1 rom people who
are interested in anarchy. They weren't looking to introduce
another philosophy, they weren't looking to introduce another
government, they weren't looking to replace our system w i t h
their system. They were Looking to introduce anarchy.

And that mean;; that this enemy is [at d i f f e r e n t than any

enemy we faced before. And I t h i n k t he: P; or, ideni. understands
that.

0 - - a quick list, oi some things; where people close to

him have said, again, he hasn't transformed, but whore they
notice he has been affected or changed by i t . lie's always been
a great delegator, a man who knows the v a J u e of his office's
time. Does he delegate more or less, or t fie .same a.s lie did
before?

MR. CARD: He is a very, very eff i c i e n t man, and he has

beer) very efficient. Does he delegate more? lie knows that
there are still only 2'1 hours in a day, and that the workload of
a President certainly was not diminished by September llth, so
it wasn't that things were taken off hi.c3 table so that he could
have more time to deal with winning t h e - war against terrorism.
He had to find more room on his table to do the job. So, yes,
he had to delegate issues that might have risen to him that now
could be massaged by others.

Q Can you think of a minor example that wouldn't give

away secrets? The kind of issue that just

000039
 MR. CARD: He knew that he had cjood people working on
education reform. He'd already one congressional pa.ssaqe, arid
he could s.iy, let's qet it done. .So he d i d n ' t have t.<>
micromanaqe t h e i rnp Lementat i on of his qoa L to leave no c h i l d
behind. He could say. Rod Paiqe, Marqaret Spellinqs, do i i .
And r t biink thiit t.hat's kind o£ what he did at LhaL Cabinet
meetinq on the 14th. 1 Lhink he went around that tabJo, in
essence, saying, T am going to have to .spend more l.ime focusing
on t i n s war; therefore, don't forget the job you have t o do.

And so I t h i n k that may have boon a deleqal. i on N wi t hout

forethouqht.

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Q In private, in down tiine.<;, doe.'", he? joke more, or len

than he 'did a year aqo?

MR. CARD: I i.hj rik lie did joke less, but he is now jokituj
I t h i n k the burden of September l l L h t h a t lasted u n t i l
October 7i h October 7th is the day t h a t wo1 went i n t o
Af qhari j :.;tan. That period of t i m e was very, very heavy, because
decisions were beinq made then that would have l i t e r a l ly
consequence:; for l i t e or death. October 7th beqan an
operational phase, but the decisions t o qel t h e r e ? wei e vei y

000040
heavy. And he took - he spent a .lot of Lime thinking after
he had been consulted by Rumsfeld and Powell and Dick Myers
remember Shel ton had done the? cusp, Shelton was on the cusp. So
that was a heavy time. There? wasn't an opportunity for
frivolity during that period of time. But that's also when we
were? meeting six days a week.

Q That's cilways been an important part of his

personality -•- we're% seeing more of it now than you did

MR. CARD: I do. I see when he relaxes, he really relaxes.

For the month between September llth and October l l t h , that
period of t i m e , first of a l l , he didn't have a lot of time to be
frivolous. But part of my job is to make sure that the 24 hours
in a day are scheduled such that the President does have time, I
like to call it, eat, sleep and be merry. He has to eat, he has
to sleep, has to have time to go to the bathroom, and he has to
have time to be merry.

Arid that period of t i m e , it was very d i f f i c u l t to schedule

the merry part. And lie enjoy;; a rnovio every once in a w h i l e ; he
enjoys reading; he? enjoys t a l k i n g with Jerma and Barbara. And
even that was hard to schedule during that period of time. Yet
i t ' s very important. So I try to focus, T pay attention, "1 try
to pay attention to the f u l l 24 hour cycle, no that he has time
to eat, slc-.'ep and bo merry. Because if he's merry, hi:;
dec i 55 ions w i l l be better.

Q And l a s t l y - because I've gone over my t i m e

other than the obvious, the? new focus an overriding mission now
for the administration, tho war on terrorism - how has 9/31
changed t h i s presidency?

MR. CARD: The p r i o r i t y is not a priority that, was

anticipated. The p r i o r i t y when we got olc-ctod, whc-n the?
President got elected, was education reform, t a x relief, and a
compassionate agenda reflecting conservative values. And we
were chugging along with actually pretty phenomenal success,
s u r p r i s i n g the pundits - these? are all s t i l l p r i o r i t i e s , but
there's an overarching responsibility that t lie President now is
carrying for the world.

And so, yes, we have to focus more resources on meeting the

challenge that we didn't anticipate. I like to say we elect
Presidents to meet challenges that can't be anticipated. You
don't elect a President to devil with the issues that everybody
knows about . You really pick a President, you pick a leader to

000041
be able to manage the unknown. This President has demonstrated
the capacity to manage the unknown challenge. And he knows that
lie has a biggor rosponsib: l i t y t. o do it .

That's why I'm proud to work for him, because he puts

things in the right perspective. He's just -- he's good at
compartmentalizing, but never losing the overall mission. Some
people can compartmentalize and lose the overall mission; and he
doesn't. I don't want to do anything that gets in the way of us
winning the war against terrorism; I don't want to do anything
that gets in the way of: protecting the homeland. And that's why
he is comfortable with the new challenges that are imposed on
other agenda items.

You don't understand -- yes, I care about this program,

but I can't let rny care about this program get in the way of
achieving our overall goal of winning the war on terrorism.

Q Okay. Thank you vory much.

END 2 : 5 8 P . M . EOT

000042