The White House Situation Room
In 1961, President John F. Kennedy determined that future presidents would need a dedicated crisis management center and ordered the construction of a secure communications site. This became the first White House Situation Room.
The historic room pictured above was used by nine sitting United States Presidents including Presidents Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush to make decisions that still affect us today. In 2006, the Situation Room complex was removed and two of the key rooms - the Main Conference Room and the Secure Video Transmission Site - were preserved and reinstalled at the George W. Bush and the Ronald Reagan Presidential Libraries.
The Situation Room Experience
The Situation Room installations at the Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush Libraries now offer an exceptional educational opportunity for participants who must work together in this high stakes environment to examine a multitude of critical sources and make important decisions about developing events. Participants form teams who manage, report on, or legislate during fast-paced crisis simulations.
This award-winning 21st century educational experience is aligned with national and state standards for high school.
The original crisis scenario developed for the Situation Room Experience.
In this scenario, participants form teams and assume the roles of the President’s Cabinet in order to manage a modern constitutional crisis while their colleagues take on the parts of key news media members scrambling to cover the story as it unfolds before them.
Set in 18th century America, Washington's Cabinet is the second simulation developed for the Situation Room Experience.
In this scenario, some participants assume the roles of the President and the President’s Cabinet in order to manage an international crisis, while others take on the parts of our first senators actively working to persuade and negotiate with colleagues. Additional players represent Native American leaders, European ambassadors, or members of the hyper-partisan early American press.
Situation Room Experience: Leadership Challenge
The Situation Room Experience: Leadership Challenge (SRELC) operates as a renowned corporate training event. The SRELC has attracted high level participant groups from across the globe including the FBI, the United States Coast Guard, UCLA Santander's W50, NBC Universal and more.
The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum in Simi Valley, California (just about one hour from Los Angeles), offers Constitutional Crisis and Washington’s Cabinet simulations to students, corporations and other interested organizations.
The George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum in downtown Dallas offers the Constitutional Crisis simulation to students, corporations and other interested organizations.
Mt. Vernon’s Fred W. Smith National Library for the Study of George Washington, located in metropolitan Washington, D.C. is home to the “George Washington’s Cabinet” scenario, which is offered to students, corporations and other interested organizations.