That was my point entirely, the appearence of a paniced government with the President jumping up and running out of the room.

It was a tough call on his part. You forget he wasn't sitting there listening to a long dissertation or in some panel discussion. He was sitting there while a child read a short little story to the group. He already been sitting there so he had every reason to believe it would end in a matter of minutes and then he could calmly exit and be off AS DIRECTED BY THE SECREAT SERVICE, not him. Did it last a minute or two longer than he would have liked? Probably. He did what was prudent, did not panic everyone. And it did make a hill of beans different.