Former US president George W Bush has marked the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks by painting the moment he was told the US was under attack.
Bush was sitting in a Florida classroom, listening to schoolchildren read, when White House chief of staff Andrew Card leaned in and whispered the news in his ear.
Photographers in the room captured his reaction as he sat in silence for around seven minutes before leaving.
Bush later said he hadn't wanted to signal panic to the room, but critics at the time saw it differently, describing a president frozen by the scale of what he'd just learned.
US recalls the horror of four passenger planes hijacked and aimed at strategic targets on September 11, 2001. (Source: 1News)
The artwork depicting the moment was shared on social media alongside 15 others.
"Twenty-five years ago, the actions of an enemy revealed the spirit of the American people," Bush wrote. "These and other paintings are my reflections of this solemn anniversary."
The 16 works are on display throughout September at the George W Bush Presidential Museum in Texas.
Other images included in the exhibit depict the plumes of smoke that rose from the New York City skyline after the towers were hit, the police badge of an officer killed in the attack and a giant American flag draped over the side of the Pentagon.
Card, speaking to Sky News in 2021, recalled the moment he broke the news to Bush.
"I decided to pass on two facts and make one editorial comment to the president, and to do nothing to invite a dialogue with him," he said.
"I walked up to the president, and I leaned over, and I whispered into his right ear, 'A second plane hit the second tower. America is under attack'."
Card said he believed Bush's composure reflected the weight of the office he held.
"I honestly believe he was thinking about the burden that he accepted when he took the Oath of Office," Card said.
"I was very impressed that he did nothing to introduce fear to those second-graders. He did nothing to demonstrate fear to the media, that would have satisfied the terrorists all around the world."
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