Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House

by Peter Baker

Everyone sat quietly for a moment, and Colin Powell wordlessly reached out and touched Bush’s hand. The president then got up and left. As he strode out of the Situation Room, Eric Draper, the White House photographer standing outside the door, could see Bush’s eyes were red and tearing up. Even though he had known this was coming, emotion washed over the president in a way he had not expected. This was it; this was war. He marched upstairs and into the Oval Office without speaking to anyone, headed outside to the South Lawn to collect himself by taking his dog Spot for a walk. Aides could see his feelings were churning and did not follow. When he finally returned to the building, “you could see the weight on his face,” recalled Draper.