World War II
The original White House bunker was built during World War II to protect President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the event of an aerial attack on Washington, D.C. It was continually upgraded during its operational life.
The PEOC space has modern communications equipment, including televisions and phones to coordinate with outside government entities. During a breach of White House security, including violations of the Washington, D.C., Air Defense Identification Zone (P-56 airspace), the president and other protectees are relocated to the executive briefing room, next to the PEOC. Day to day, the PEOC is staffed around the clock by joint-service military officers and non-commissioned officers.
September 11 attacks
During the September 11 attacks, a number of key personnel were evacuated from their offices in the White House to the PEOC. These included Vice President Dick Cheney, First Lady Laura Bush, Lynne Cheney, Condoleezza Rice, Mary Matalin, "Scooter" Libby, Joshua Bolten, Karen Hughes, Stephen Hadley, David Addington, Secret Service agents, U.S. Army major and White House Fellow Mike Fenzel, and other staff including Norman Mineta. President George W. Bush was visiting a school in Florida at the time of the attacks.
May 29, 2020
President Donald Trump retreated to the PEOC during the night of May 29, 2020, at the beginning of the George Floyd protests.
After his time in the bunker was reported in the news, Trump demanded that officials find and prosecute those responsible for the information getting to the press.[6] Trump's secretary of defense, Mark Esper, described in his 2022 book that Trump stated the person who leaked his whereabouts "should be tried for treason and should be executed"
Planned replacement
In 2025, CBS reported that the PEOC was planned to be upgraded by the White House Military Office.
In January 2026, CNN reported that the PEOC had been demolished, along with the rest of the East Wing, to make way for a new facility with more modern technology. Little is known about the upgrades, but White House director of management and administration Joshua Fisher stated at the National Capital Planning Commission that the project will deliver "resilient, adaptive infrastructure aligned with future mission needs." While the technology inside PEOC had been upgraded throughout the decades, the infrastructure still dated to the 1940s.
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