Andrew Card
White House Chief of Staff (2001–2006)
Andrew Card graduated from Kings Point in 1971 and served as White House Chief of Staff under President George W. Bush from January 2001 through March 2006. On the morning of September 11, 2001, it was Card who leaned in to whisper to President Bush: 'A second plane hit the second tower. America is under attack.'
Andrew Hill Card Jr. was born on May 10, 1947, in Brockton, Massachusetts. He attended the United States Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point and graduated in 1971. After graduation he served in the U.S. Army Reserve and worked as an engineer before entering politics.
Card was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives and served from 1975 to 1983, building a reputation as a skilled bipartisan negotiator. His abilities attracted attention at the national level, and he moved into the federal executive branch during the Reagan administration.
He served in several roles in the Reagan White House before becoming a senior official under President George H.W. Bush. Bush appointed him Deputy Chief of Staff and later U.S. Secretary of Transportation, a position Card held from 1992 to 1993. As Transportation Secretary, he managed the federal response to Hurricane Andrew in 1992.
Card was appointed White House Chief of Staff by President George W. Bush at the start of the administration in January 2001. On the morning of September 11, 2001, Card was with the President at Emma E. Booker Elementary School in Sarasota, Florida. Having received word of the second World Trade Center strike, he walked to the President's side during a classroom reading event, bent down, and whispered: "A second plane hit the second tower. America is under attack." That moment, captured in photographs, became one of the defining images of the September 11 attacks.
Card served as Chief of Staff for over five years — one of the longest tenures in the modern White House era — resigning in March 2006. He later served as President of Franklin Pierce University in New Hampshire from 2019 to 2021.
White House Chief of Staff Through 9/11
Andrew Card served as White House Chief of Staff from January 20, 2001 to March 31, 2006 — a period spanning the September 11 attacks, the launch of the War on Terror, and the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. His five-year tenure made him one of the longest-serving modern chiefs of staff.
September 11, 2001
Card's whispered words — "A second plane hit the second tower. America is under attack" — to President Bush represent one of the most historically significant private communications in modern American political history. His composed delivery in an extraordinary moment reflected the discipline of a career built on crisis management.
Secretary of Transportation
As the 11th U.S. Secretary of Transportation under President George H.W. Bush, Card oversaw the federal response to Hurricane Andrew in 1992 and managed the complex interagency coordination that disaster required.
Andrew Card graduated from Kings Point in 1971, and the Merchant Marine Academy shaped his approach to public service through its emphasis on engineering discipline, responsibility under pressure, and leadership at sea. Card has cited his Academy education as foundational to his ability to manage complex institutions through crisis.
The Merchant Marine Academy's tradition of producing leaders who operate across the interface of private commerce and national service is embodied in Card's career — from the Massachusetts state house to the Cabinet to the most demanding staff position in the United States government.
