White House Situation Room - Definition and Overview

The White House Situation Room, run by staffers of the National Security Council, is in the basement of the West Wing of the White House. The President of the United States and his advisors use it to monitor and deal with crises at home and abroad. The Situation Room is equipped with secure, advanced communications equipment for the President to maintain command and control of U.S. forces around the world. It should not be confounded with the Presidential Emergency Operations Center which is situated under the East Wing.

The room has secure communications systems built into it, and often times a special White House staff duty officer will take notes of sensitive conversations between the President and other world leaders. The walls contain wood panels that hide different audio, video and other systems. The room also has 3 different digital clocks, that display the time in Washington, D.C. and 2 other geographic locations, often times the sites of sensitive current political or other types of events.