National Archives releases new photos of Bush, White House on 9/11

WASHINGTON, July 25 (UPI) -- The U.S. National Archives on Friday released a number of previously unpublished and unseen photographs that show the president and other White House officials on what was perhaps the darkest day in American history -- Sept. 11, 2001.

The hundreds of never-before-seen pictures were taken by Vice President Dick Cheney's staff photographer, and include some intense and harrowing moments that unfolded after terrorists struck New York City and Washington, D.C.

More than 350 new images were released after a Freedom of Information Act request from a television producer for the PBS documentary series Frontline, USA Today reported.

The images have been maintained by the Office of Management and Administration and Office of White House Management - Photography Office. (Click here to see all 356 images)

Former President George W. Bush, first lady Laura Bush and several cabinet and White House officials -- such as Secretary of State Colin Powell and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice -- are seen in the photographs.

In one photo, Cheney is seen sitting in his office watching live news coverage of the attack on the World Trade Center. In another, he stoically watches President Bush deliver his initial remarks on the attack from a grade school in Florida.

Most of the photos show cabinet officials sitting in the President's Emergency Operations Center -- a fortified bunker that lies beneath the White House.

In one shot, a terse-looking CIA Director George Tenet watches President Bush deliver his speech to the nation on the evening of Sept. 11 -- in which he famously said, "today our nation saw evil" and, "we will make no distinction between the terrorists who committed these acts and those who harbor them."

The new photos also include several snapshots of Cheney on Marine Two, which flew the vice president to Camp David that same evening.

All 356 images are available to view on the National Archives' Flickr page.