Cheney was in his West Wing office when he received word that a plane had struck the World Trade Center. The released photos were requested by the coordinating producer for a group that has produced Bush administration films for PBS' "Frontline."
U.S. National Archives
The photos capture the grim scenario facing the White House as commandeered airliners crashed into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania. President George W. Bush, Cheney and staff gather at the President's Emergency Operations Center later in the day.
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Colette Neirouz Hanna, who works with the Kirk Documentary Group, told the Boston Globe, "From the first moments after the attacks on the World Trade Center, Vice President Cheney has been at the center of much of the government's response. Now, 14 years later, we finally have those photographs and the American people can see for themselves what took place in those first 24 hours."
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"Frontline," in an online posting on July 25, said the images were taken by Cheney's staff photographer. Cheney told CNN's John King in 2002 what happened when it was clear there was an ongoing terrorist operation. After he called President Bush in Florida and spoke with top aides his door burst open. "My [Secret Service] agent all of a sudden materialized right beside me and said, 'Sir, we have to leave now.' He grabbed me and propelled me out of my office, down the hall, and into the underground shelter in the White House," Cheney said.
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Cheney with members of the White House staff, including National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice. "Frontline" said Friday's release of photos was the second set requested by Hanna. That first set shows other behind-the-scenes photos of Bush and Cheney.
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Lynne Cheney discusses the ongoing crisis with her husband, the vice president. According to a 2002 CNN article on the attack anniversary, Dick Cheney helped direct the U.S. government's response from an emergency bunker while the President was in Florida and flying to Nebraska for security reasons. Bush issued orders while in transit.
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According to historycommons.org, Bush arrived at the White House shortly before 7 p.m. on September 11. A few minutes later, he entered the Emergency Operations Center.
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Cheney with National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice in the President's Emergency Operations Center.
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A relic of the Cold War, the deep underground bunker became the vice president's base of operations on the first day of a new war.
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Rice and Secretary of State Colin Powell confer during the crisis.
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Mary Matalin, then a counselor to Cheney, said this of the Presidential Emergency Operations Center: "I didn't know that it existed until I was actually down there, and I'm not sure I could find my way back there to this day."
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Cheney with Laura Bush and Lynne Cheney. The latter was a constant presence. She leaned in at one point to tell the vice president that their daughters were fine.
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Secretary of State Colin Powell looks over a report. All of the released photos are available in a National Archives Flickr album.
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After their reunion, the President and the first lady "talked with the Cheneys a bit," Laura Bush was to recall. President Bush then went upstairs to prepare for a nationally televised address.
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President Bush speaks with Vice President Cheney and members of his senior staff. The vice president had a few words with the president just before the latter's address to the nation. CIA Director George Tenet watched from the bunker, waiting for Bush to convene a late-night meeting of the National Security Council.
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Mary Matalin talks with Karen Hughes, counselor to the President, near Lynne Cheney in the President's Emergency Operations Center.
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Cheney talks with Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta.
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CIA Director George Tenet listens to President Bush's televised address. The President said, "Terrorist attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of America. These acts shatter steel, but they cannot dent the steel of American resolve."
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It was the bunker's first test in an actual emergency, a day of crisis with some hitches. Cheney wanted to track TV reports of the devastation and listen in on communications with the Pentagon. "You can have sound on one or the other and he found that technically imperfect," Matalin recalled.
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The Cheneys depart the White House and prepare to board Marine Two. He later took a nighttime ride past the heavily damaged Pentagon. "I recall watching the vice president, who was staring out the window at the Pentagon, and wondering what he may be thinking about, the responsibilities he would have in the future. A pretty sobering moment," said Libby, his chief of staff.
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Vice President Cheney, Lynne Cheney and I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby aboard Marine Two.
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Cheney and Lynne Cheney arrive at Camp David. This was the first in a series of "undisclosed locations" where the vice president camped out in the weeks after the attacks, PBS said.
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Cheney, shown here at Camp David on September 11, 2001. A year later, he recalled to CNN's John King: "As we lifted off and headed up the Potomac [River], you could look out and see the Pentagon, see that black hole where it'd been hit. A lot of lights on the building, smoke rising from the Pentagon. And you know, it really helped to bring home the impact of what had happened, that we had in fact been attacked."
!["Frontline," in an online posting on July 25, said the images were taken by Cheney's staff photographer. Cheney told CNN's John King in 2002 what happened when it was clear there was an ongoing terrorist operation. After he called President Bush in Florida and spoke with top aides his door burst open. "My [Secret Service] agent all of a sudden materialized right beside me and said, 'Sir, we have to leave now.' He grabbed me and propelled me out of my office, down the hall, and into the underground shelter in the White House," Cheney said. <br />](https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/150725155914-05-cheney-911-19730399059-f4f84566c1-o-jpg.jpg?q=w_3072,h_2048,x_0,y_0,c_fill/h_447)
![Cheney, shown here at Camp David on September 11, 2001. A year later, he recalled to CNN's John King: "As we lifted off and headed up the Potomac [River], you could look out and see the Pentagon, see that black hole where it'd been hit. A lot of lights on the building, smoke rising from the Pentagon. And you know, it really helped to bring home the impact of what had happened, that we had in fact been attacked."](https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/150725160333-24-cheney-911-19890852586-a7c1c0b72b-o-jpg.jpg?q=w_3072,h_2048,x_0,y_0,c_fill/h_447)
