The White House Situation Room (1961 to Present)

 

The White House Situation Room
Type Of Activity	Crisis Management
Location
Location	Washington DC
Date of Activity	1961 to Present
Coordinates	38°53′52″N 77°02′11″W

The idea for the Situation Room was first suggested to President Eisenhower in the 1950s, but it was President John F. Kennedy who brought it to life, less than two weeks after the Bay of Pigs invasion failed in 1961. The failure was attributed to a lack of up-to-date information, prompting Kennedy to establish a dedicated crisis management center. A former bowling alley below the West Wing, adjacent to the White House Mess dining hall, was chosen as the location. Several names were considered for the facility, from “Nerve Center” to “Executive Coordination Center,” but President Kennedy ultimately chose "Situation Room," a term coined by military researchers.

The Situation Room became crucial during the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962. Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev announced his decision to remove missiles from Cuba on Radio Moscow. The message was intercepted by the Situation Room staff and quickly relayed to President Kennedy. The timely communication prevented the crisis from potentially escalating.

The office in the Situation Room under President John F. Kennedy (1961)

The first configuration of the Situation Room under President John F. Kennedy (1961)

Initially, the Situation Room was a modest facility with only seven positions, including phones, monitors, and a small conference area that could accommodate about a dozen people. The staff required top-level security clearances, vetted by the Secret Service, and were trained in secure protocols.

The Situation Room initially had seven positions “Some phones, monitors, and spots in the back, the President’s secure conference room was next to the command or watch center. The President’s Situation Room was not very large, it only accommodates about a dozen people around the conference table. That’s how the Situation Room engaged the world. Probably the smallest staff, and the youngest by age of all watch centers anywhere in the United States government or anywhere in the world.”

The facility had a conference room with secure communications systems; the wood panels over the walls hide audio, video, and other systems.

The White House Watch Center

Conference Room part of the Situation Room (1980)

President Lyndon B. Johnson, frequently used the Situation Room to monitor the Vietnam War. In contrast, President Nixon avoided it due to his dislike of the National Security Council's domain, a sentiment Henry Kissinger attributed to "Situation Room syndrome." 

LBJ in the Sit Room during the Vietnam war

President Gerald Ford preferred using the Oval Office to assert his presidential legitimacy. 

The historic room pictured below was used by nine sitting United States Presidents including Presidents Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush to make decisions that still affect us today.

President Ronald Reagan, “wanted to be in the place where things happened.”

The Situation Room has been central to major historical moments, including the events of September 11, 2001. After the attacks began, the room was staffed with three duty officers, a communicator, and a few others who refused to evacuate. This was also true with  the WHCA Signal board and Comm Center in the OEOB both stayed fully operational.

Recalling the morning of September 11, 2001, after two planes had already crashed into the World Trade Center’s twin towers, American flight 77 began turning south, away from the White House. It continued heading south for roughly a minute, before turning west and beginning to circle back. This news prompted the Secret Service to order the immediate evacuation the White House and the immediate relocation of the Vice President to the Presidential Emergency Operations Center (PEOC) to a little used cold war bunker located below the East Wing of the White House.

Once inside, Vice President Cheney and the agents paused in an area of the tunnel that had a secure phone, a bench, and television. The Vice President asked to speak to the President, but it took time for the call to be connected. He learned in the tunnel that the Pentagon had been hit, and he saw television coverage of smoke coming from the building,  

There were so many people running toward what everybody knew was a potential target the White House Situation Room peaked at 27 bodies that refused to evacuate. The WHCA staffed  Signal switchboard and Comm. Center located in the adjacent OEOB also remined  when the White House was evacuated.

Vice President Cheney with senior staff in the President's Emergency Operations Center (PEOC), the cold war-era bunker under the white house

For more than four decades, the Situation Room at the White House has been the hub of presidential activity during historic moments, from the Cuban missile crisis to 9/11, but for all of its importance, it had fallen way behind the technological curve.  A major renovation, was needed and completed in December 2006, and introduced new technology, including NEC plasma flat-screen TVs and LG LCD TVs, to support secure videoconferences. The upgrade aimed to address the growing need for cybersecurity and modern communication tools.

In 2011, during the operation to kill Osama bin Laden, President Barack Obama and other officials watched in real time from an adjacent conference room, highlighting the room's evolving role in real-time decision-making. The famous photo of then-President Barack Obama, then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and others watched in real time as U.S. special forces raiding a compound in Pakistan and killing Osama bin Laden, the al-Qaida leader who planned the 9/11 attacks on the United States.

The president and his national security team as they "receive an update on the mission against Osama bin Laden

The photo was actually not taken in the main area of the Situation Room but in an adjacent conference room where they could get a better feed from WHCA. This remodel changed the capabilities of the main room to fix that.

Situation Room as it is configured today

A comprehensive renovation in 2023 further modernized the Situation Room, with enhanced security and technology upgrades costing over $50 million. The new facility features modern aesthetics, advanced communication systems, and improved security measures. The main meeting room, named the "Kennedy Room," honors President Kennedy's role in establishing the Situation Room. It includes a large wooden table with 12 chairs, surrounded by screens capable of displaying classified and unclassified information. The room is equipped to handle secure calls and video feeds from agencies worldwide.

Completed renovations of the Situation Room of the White House as seen, Wednesday, August 16, 2023

Everything, from the wood to the carpet, was picked, with security and acoustics in mind. There are rows of built-in speakers on the ceiling and digital clocks on the walls that are set based on the info that is needed -- but that also always show the time zone that the president is in.

The seal behind the desk rotates depending on who is leading the meeting: the president, vice president, the White House national security adviser and so on. On one huge wall there are eight screens and then there are three screens on each side wall of the room. Classified feeds from any agency and around the world can be plugged in, secure calls with foreign leaders can be set up -- and a lot more that officials wouldn't disclose.

The main meeting room has been designated the "Kennedy" room

The President and Vice President still have their own door to the facility while everyone else, from the Secretary of State to the chair of Joint Chiefs of Staff and beyond, must enter through the main reception area: a row of desks with wood paneling and grey stonework.

One wing of the space is a big room with walls of monitors and 17 workstations, all with several individual monitors on the "watch floor".  On-duty officers, who are mostly detailed to the White House from the Pentagon or departments of State and Homeland Security, sit at these desks in 12-hour shifts, monitoring, taking in and distributing classified intelligence. It's the backbone of the facility.

This is the "watch floor," a command center for the Situation Room where secure feeds are coordinated

The Situation Room remains the nerve center for the White House's crisis management, staffed 24/7 by officers from various agencies. These officers monitor, analyze, and distribute intelligence, ensuring the President and senior officials are informed and prepared for any situation.