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How America's former presidents will commemorate the 9/11 anniversary

Rick Rouan
USA TODAY

America’s former presidents will mark the 20th anniversary of 9/11 publicly and privately on Saturday.

Former President George W. Bush, who was commander in chief during the 2001 terrorist attacks, will deliver keynote remarks on Saturday morning at the Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. 

Later, he and his wife, Laura, will host a screening of the documentary “9/11: Inside the President’s War Room” at the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas.

Bush was less than a year into his presidency when a staff member interrupted his reading to second graders in Florida to whisper in the president’s ear “America is under attack.”

Nearly 3,000 people were killed in the terrorist attacks in New York, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania.

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Former President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, will attend a 9/11 remembrance ceremony at Ground Zero in New York, the site of the two World Trade Center towers attacked in 2001 that has been developed into a memorial.

America’s oldest living former president will mark the anniversary in private. Former President Jimmy Carter, 96, is not scheduled to appear publicly on Saturday.

“President and Mrs. (Rosalynn) Carter will be honoring the memory of the fallen on 9/11 with prayer and reflection privately at home in Plains,” spokeswoman Deanna Congileo said in an email.

Staff for former President Donald Trump did not respond to a request for comment about his plans to commemorate the anniversary. Trump is scheduled to provide commentary on Saturday night during a boxing match between Evander Holyfield and Vitor Belfort in Florida.

Former President Bill Clinton’s staff did not respond to a request for comment.

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