Covering the President From the Last Plane in Flight SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 Ann Compton Recounts Her Experience Witnessing History Unfold Aboard Air Force One
LEFT: ABC NEWS / ABOVE: GETTY IMAGES
an n co m pt o n
d o o msday p la n ni ng f o r t h e u. s. g o v er nm ent—the protection of the president, the civilian chain of command, the use of force by the military—leaves nothing to chance. Real crises can play havoc with those plans. One did on September 11, 2001. I was there. By that date I had covered six presidents over an arc of twenty-five years for ABC News, and by chance that sunny Tuesday was my turn as press pool correspondent to cover the president’s flight back to Washington, D.C.
white house history quarterly
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