Teen Tries To Call President Bush On Private Phone Line

Iceland High School Student Dials Bush's Phone Number

When Vífill Atlason, a 16-year-old high school student from Iceland, decided to call the White House, he could not imagine the kind of publicity it would bring.

Introducing himself as Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, the actual president of Iceland, Atlason found President George W. Bush's allegedly secret telephone number and phoned, requesting a private meeting with him.

"I just wanted to talk to him, have a chat, invite him to Iceland and see what he'd say," Vífill told ABC News.

A White House official, who asked not to be identified, denied the young man had accessed a private number but instead dialled 202-456-1414, the main switchboard for the West Wing.

He was actually passed along to 2-3 different people in the White House and eventually the President's private secretary, who took a message and said that President Bush would return the call on Monday evening.

Apparently before being passed along they were asking him personal questions about the President of Iceland, which the teen was able to answer, because he had Wiki and other sites pulled up and the info was right there.






[edit on 11-12-2007 by elevatedone]

Hilarious,

Having Wiki up and ready foraying answers, outstanding.

Had he of actually succeeded with his charade, I wonder if the Pres would have known the difference?

He's had a few problems in the past with pronunciations as well as people/places & things.

Interesting... wonder what the conversation would have been about. That would have been something I would love to read.

Always wondered if I could call the prez himself.. but knowing me, I would end up in prison for criticizing him on the phone.

VV

When I was young, it was New Years Eve and my dad and some buddies were drinking, and decided around 1am to start calling the White House

They talked to the operator for about 2-3 minutes and she finally told them to hand up and not to call back or the authorities would be involved.

This was when Reagan was in office.

So did the guy actually call the main switchboard or a secret/private number? That is something to wonder about .

reply to post by they see ALL



The White House is saying it wasn't a private number, but the Teen and his mother swear that he didn't dial the White House switchboard.



I think I believe the boy.

Main Switch board for the West Wing??? Humm could be a ploy to change the main switch board number to a more appropriate one like 666-6666.

Something just not right or fishy about this tale.

How many people before this knew the # of the switch board to the West Wing?

reply to post by antar


That number is public information, and can be accessed on many government sites.

He may have found an office number and was directed to a secretary.. he does have a cell phone for private calls like anyone else.. Ellen made his daughter call him on her show. But I doubt he could have found a private number to Bush.

I think Bush should fly the kid to the white house and have a nice chat with him. They both may learn something.

I think I believe the kid from Iceland. Dig long and hard enough, and you would be surprised at the information you can come up with!!! Too, he may have access to phone numbers and information we don't- who knows?

Had an experience myself when I was a freshman in high school--- a long, long, LONG time ago...
We needed information for a civics project...information that, as a farm kid, I didn't have access to. Long story short, in the end,I recieved a phone call from the White House Secretary of State, answering ALL of my questions. Granted this was some time ago, but it shows what one can accomplish if one is persistent enough, and uses the resources available to you.

I heard on paul harvey the kid got the number a few years ago but didn't remember exactly how he got the number. Im sure there is a way to call the prez directly. I remember when a celebrity( i forget who), lost their cell phone, and they were going crazy trying to find it because it had Bill Clintons cell phone number on it.
If he did get through to the prez, i bet he would have had a great story for all his friends. No punishment is necssacary, unless he made threats. Why cant people talk to eachother, regardless of their position. Be humble George, be humble.