Here are the fascinating never-before-seen photos of Dick Cheney and George W. Bush on 9/11

The US national archives just released more than 300 never-bef0re-seen photos of the Bush administration, taken just after the September 11, 2001 attacks.

The photos - taken by the Vice Presidential photographer and released this week by the National Archives - were released as part of a Freedom of Information Act request filed by documentary filmmaker Colette Neirouz Hanna.

The images show intimate photos of administration higher-ups like Vice President Dick Cheney, then-National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice, and Secretary of State Colin Powell as the administration began developing its response to the attack.

The 9/11 Commission Report found that despite some early warning signs that al-Qaeda was planning a strike on US soil, few were able to predict the method of the attack.

This left the Bush administration scrambling to come up with a message for the nation as well as an appropriate military response.

Here are some of the most interesting photos from the release:

Cheney watches television reports of the attacks on the World Trade Center. With conflicting reports about the number of hijacked planes, many Bush administration officials were tuned in to CNN for extra bits of information that hadn't filtered up to the White House yet. It wasn't initially clear to the administration or the Secret Service whether the crashes were deliberate.

Cheney is joined by Lewis "Scooter" Libby and Cheney's then-advisor Mary Matalin

Dick and Lynne Cheney on board Air Force 2 on the evening of Sept. 11

The Cheney's de-plane from AF2

Cheney, Rice, and Secretary of State Colin Powell huddle in the Presidential Emergency Operations Center

Rice and Cheney in the PEOC

Cheney, Rice, Libby, Matalin, and other senior White House staff

CIA Director George Tenet watches Bush's address. The intelligence community was reportedly very certain almost immediately after the attack that al-Qaeda was responsible.

Rice and Powell

Cheney in the PEOC

President George W. Bush and Cheney with other staff members in the PEOC. There was a lot of conflict on 9/11 about whether Bush should return to Washington - some feared there could be another attack. Bush flew to several different locations before eventually returning to the White House to deliver an address.

Bush, Cheney, Rice and other close staff in the PEOC

First Lady Laura Bush with the Cheneys in the PEOC

The Cheneys with First Lady Bush

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