Originally Posted by Katczinsky

A couple minutes? It was like seven minutes. And then he stayed in the school for over thirty. Seven minutes, or even a couple minutes, means everything in the nuclear age when your entire country can go up in flames in a matter of minutes. He was told the country was under attack. And the responsible thing to do as the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces is to at least find out what the hell is going on.

And no one's going to be in a deeper panic by watching the President run out of a school to do his duties as commander-in-chief. Besides, how would that even have an effect? People weren't even watching him live, everyone's eyes were glued to the fact that the Pentagon and World Trade Center was under attack. In fact, people would be in more of a panic if they learned about the fact that the President instead of getting wisked away to some bunker to command our Armed Forces, was instead sitting in a class room with a bunch of children reading "My Pet Goat".

Even despite all of this; the President is a highly potential target in the event of a terrorist attack. Especially if he is at a publicized event. He was not only putting himself at risk, but the lives of the children and staff at that school for over a half-hour.