Date: May 1, 2011
Photographer: Pete Souza – White House Photographer
Details: Following the devastating September 11 attacks, which resulted in thousands of civilian deaths, the collapse of the Twin Towers, and partial destruction of the Pentagon, Osama bin Laden became one of the most wanted fugitives by U.S. authorities, whether dead or alive. In an effort to capture him, substantial monetary rewards were offered for any information leading to his location. Ten years after the attacks, the CIA located bin Laden in a compound in Pakistan and was instructed to eliminate him. On May 1, 2011, during the operation known as “Neptune Spear,” General Brad Webb, the assistant commander of the Joint Special Operations Command, was at the White House monitoring the event. The Situation Room, where National Counterterrorism Center Director Michael Leiter, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Vice President Joe Biden, and others were present, witnessed a crucial moment. President Obama entered the room and said, “I want to see this,” taking a seat next to General Webb. According to journalist Peter Bergen, the group was watching a live feed from a drone flying over the area. The photo, taken at 4:05 p.m. Washington time (12:35 a.m. in Afghanistan), captured that tense moment.
After bin Laden’s death and the release of the photo, it gained significant attention and praise. CNN described it as a “photo for the ages” and compared it to other famous images of U.S. presidents, such as “Dewey Defeats Truman.” Former White House photographer Eric Draper said the photo captured a pivotal historical moment exceptionally well. The image also became a focal point for commentary by historians and body language experts.
Pete Souza, the photographer of the Situation Room image, explained that many photos were taken of the President, Vice President, and the national security team monitoring the mission to eliminate bin Laden. The Situation Room, which actually consists of several different meeting rooms, was used in its smaller form for this task. The President chose to sit next to General Webb, who was responsible for ongoing communications. Due to the lack of chairs, others stood at the back of the room. Souza was in a cramped corner and took nearly 100 photos from that spot. There was a classified document in front of Hillary Clinton that was redacted in the publication.
Regarding the protagonists in the Situation Room photo, President Obama later said that the photo was taken when it was reported that one of the raid’s helicopters had crashed. He described that time as possibly the longest 40 minutes of his life, aside from the period when his daughter Sasha contracted meningitis as an infant. Hillary Clinton recalled that upon entering the room, she could neither see nor hear anything, and the lack of communication made everyone focus on maintaining calm and preparing for what would come next. She described those 38 minutes as the most intense of her life and mentioned that she was unaware of the photographer due to her intense focus on the situation. Her gesture of covering her mouth with her right hand was due to spring allergies, which she was trying to suppress. John Brennan, President’s Assistant for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, noted that the minutes felt like hours and days, while James Clapper, Director of National Intelligence, remarked that the tension in the room was palpable.
