On 11 October 1910,
Theodore Roosevelt became the first U.S. president to fly in an aircraft, although at the time of the flight in an early
Wright Flyer from Kinloch Field (near
St. Louis,
Missouri), he was no longer in office, having been succeeded by
William Howard Taft. The record-making occasion was a brief overflight of the crowd at a country fair but was nonetheless, the beginning of presidential air travel.
Prior to
World War II, overseas and cross-country presidential travel was rare. Lack of wireless telecommunication and quick transportation made long-distance travel impractical, as it took much time and isolated the president from events in
Washington, D.C. Railroads were a more safe and reliable option if the President needed to travel to distant states. By the late 1930s, with the arrival of aircraft such as the
Douglas DC-3, increasing numbers of the U.S. public saw passenger air travel as a reasonable mode of transportation. All-metal aircraft, more reliable engines, and new radio aids to navigation had made commercial airline travel safer and more convenient. Life insurance companies even began to offer airline pilots insurance policies, albeit at extravagant rates, and many commercial travelers and government officials began using the airlines in preference to rail travel, especially for longer trips.
Franklin D. Roosevelt was the first president to fly in an aircraft while in office. During World War II, Roosevelt traveled on the
Dixie Clipper, a Pan Am-crewed
Boeing 314 flying boat to the 1943
Casablanca Conference, in
Morocco, a flight that covered 5,500 miles (in three "legs").
The threat from the German submarines throughout the
Battle of the Atlantic made transatlantic air travel the preferred method of transportation.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt's
C-54 Skymaster aircraft, nicknamed "the Sacred Cow".
Concerned about relying upon commercial airlines to transport the president, USAAF leaders ordered the conversion of a military aircraft to accommodate the special needs of the Commander in Chief.
The first dedicated aircraft proposed for presidential use was a
C-87A VIP transport aircraft. This aircraft, number
41-24159, was re-modified in 1943 for use as a presidential VIP transport, the
Guess Where II, intended to carry President Franklin D. Roosevelt on international trips.
Had it been accepted, it would have been the first aircraft to be used in presidential service, in effect the first Air Force One. However, after a review of the C-87's highly controversial safety record in service, the
Secret Service flatly refused to approve the
Guess Where II for presidential carriage.
The aircraft was then used to transport senior members of the Roosevelt administration on various trips. In March 1944, the
Guess Where II transported
Eleanor Roosevelt on a goodwill tour of several Latin American countries. The C-87 was scrapped in 1945.
The Secret Service subsequently reconfigured a Douglas
C-54 Skymaster for duty as a presidential transport. This VC-54C aircraft, nicknamed the
Sacred Cow, included a sleeping area, radio telephone, and retractable elevator to discreetly lift Roosevelt in his wheelchair. As modified, the VC-54C was used by President Roosevelt only once, on his trip to the
Yalta Conference in February 1945.
The
Independence used primarily by President Truman
After Roosevelt died in spring 1945, Vice President
Harry S. Truman became President. The legislation that created the U.S. Air Force, the
National Security Act of 1947, was signed by Truman while onboard the VC-54C.
He replaced the VC-54C in 1947 with a modified
C-118 Liftmaster, calling it the
Independence (also the name of Truman's hometown in
Missouri). This was the first aircraft acting as Air Force One that had a distinctive exterior–a
bald eagle head painted on its nose.
The presidential call sign was established for security purposes during the administration of
Dwight D. Eisenhower. The change stemmed from a 1953 incident where an
Eastern Airlines commercial flight (8610) had the same call sign as a flight the president was on (Air Force 8610). The aircraft accidentally entered the same airspace, and after the incident the unique call sign "Air Force One" was introduced for the presidential aircraft. The first official flight of Air Force One was in 1959 during the Eisenhower administration.
The
Columbine III used by President Eisenhower
Eisenhower also introduced four other
propeller aircraft, the
Lockheed C-121 Constellations (VC-121E) to presidential service. These aircraft were named
Columbine II and
Columbine III by
Mamie Eisenhower after the
columbine, the official state flower of Colorado, her adopted home state. Two
Aero Commanders were also added to the fleet and earned the distinction of being the smallest aircraft ever to serve as Air Force One. President Eisenhower also upgraded Air Force One's technology by adding an air-to-ground telephone and an air-to-ground teletype machine.
Boeing 707s
Boeing 707 (
SAM 26000) served Presidents Kennedy to Clinton.
Towards the end of Eisenhower's term in 1958, the Air Force added three
Boeing 707 jets (as VC-137s designated SAM 970, 971, and 972), into the fleet. Eisenhower became the first president to use the VC-137 during his "Flight to Peace" Goodwill tour, from 3 December through 22 December 1959. He visited 11 Asian nations, flying 22,000 miles (35,000 km) in 19 days, about twice as fast as he would have on
Columbine.
In October 1962, the
John F. Kennedy administration purchased a
C-137 Stratoliner,
a modified long-range 707—Special Air Mission (SAM) 26000, although he had used the Eisenhower-era jets for trips to Canada, France, Austria and the United Kingdom.
The Air Force had attempted a special presidential
livery of their own design: a scheme in red and metallic gold, with the nation's name in block letters. Kennedy felt the aircraft appeared too regal, and, on advice from his wife,
First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, he contacted the French-born American industrial designer
Raymond Loewy for help in designing a new livery and interiors for the VC-137 jet.
Loewy met with the president, and his earliest research on the project took him to the National Archives, where he looked at the first printed copy of the
United States Declaration of Independence, and saw the country's name set widely spaced and in upper case in a typeface called
Caslon. He chose to expose the polished aluminum fuselage on the bottom side, and used two blues; a slate-blue associated with the early republic and the presidency, and a more contemporary
cyan to represent the present and future. The
presidential seal was added to both sides of the fuselage near the nose, a large American flag was painted on the tail, and the sides of the aircraft read "United States of America" in all capital letters. Loewy's work won immediate praise from the president and the press. The VC-137 markings were adapted for the larger VC-25 when it entered service in 1990.
Boeing 707
SAM 27000 as Air Force One SAM 27000 served Presidents Nixon to George W. Bush, and was the primary transport for Nixon to Reagan.
SAM 26000 was in service from 1962 to 1998, serving Presidents Kennedy to
Clinton. On November 22, 1963, SAM 26000 carried President Kennedy to Dallas, Texas, where it served as the backdrop as President and Mrs. Kennedy greeted well-wishers at Dallas' Love Field. Later that afternoon, Kennedy was assassinated, and Vice President
Lyndon Johnson assumed the job of president and took the oath of office aboard SAM 26000. At Johnson's request, the plane carried Kennedy's body back to Washington. Seats and a bulkhead in the rear of the plane were removed so Jacqueline Kennedy could sit with the slain president - avoiding the indignity of transporting the casket in the cargo hold.
It also flew over
Arlington National Cemetery as Kennedy was being laid to rest, following 50 fighter jets. A decade later, it brought Johnson's own body to Washington for his
state funeral and then back home to Texas. As the former president was laid to rest at
his ranch, a former pilot of SAM 26000 presented the flag to
Lady Bird Johnson.
SAM 26000 was replaced in 1972 by another VC-137,
Special Air Mission 27000, although SAM 26000 was kept as a backup until it was finally retired in 1998. SAM 26000 is now on display at the
National Museum of the United States Air Force.
Richard Nixon was the first president to use SAM 27000, and the newer aircraft served every president until it was replaced by two
VC-25 aircraft (SAM 28000 and 29000) in 1990. After announcing his intention to resign, Nixon boarded SAM 27000 to travel to California. Over Missouri, the call sign for the airplane changed from Air Force One to SAM 27000 after Gerald Ford became president.
SAM 27000 was decommissioned in 2001 by President
George W. Bush, flown to
San Bernardino International Airport in California, and later dismantled and taken to the
Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in
Simi Valley, where it was reassembled and is currently on permanent display.
Boeing 747s
Though
Ronald Reagan's two terms as president saw no major changes to Air Force One, the manufacture of the presidential aircraft version of the
747 began during his presidency. The USAF issued a
Request For Proposal in 1985 for two wide-body aircraft with a minimum of three engines and an unrefueled range of 6,000 miles. Boeing with the 747 and McDonnell Douglas with the
DC-10 submitted proposals, and the
Reagan Administration ordered two identical 747s to replace the aging 707s he used.
The interior designs were drawn up by First Lady
Nancy Reagan, and were reminiscent of the
American Southwest.
The first of two aircraft designated
VC-25A was delivered in 1990, during the administration of
George H. W. Bush. Delays were experienced to allow for additional work to protect the aircraft from
electromagnetic pulse (EMP) effects.
The VC-25 is equipped with both secure and unsecure phone and computer communications systems, enabling the president to perform duties while in the air in the event of an attack on the United States.
The presidential air fleet is maintained by the
89th Airlift Wing at
Andrews Air Force Base,
Maryland.
Air Force One usually does not have fighter aircraft to escort the presidential aircraft over the United States, but this has occurred. In June 1974, while President Nixon was on his way to a scheduled stop in Syria, Syrian fighter jets intercepted Air Force One to act as escorts. However, the Air Force One crew was not informed in advance and, as a result, took evasive action including a dive.
One of the most dramatic episodes aboard Air Force One happened during the
September 11 attacks. President George W. Bush was interrupted at
Emma E. Booker Elementary School in
Sarasota, Florida after the attack on the World Trade Center South Tower in
New York City. He flew on a VC-25 from
Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport to
Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana and then to
Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska before returning to Washington. The next day, officials at the White House and the Justice Department explained that President Bush did this because there was "specific and credible information that the White House and Air Force One were also intended targets."
The White House later could not confirm evidence of a threat made against Air Force One, and subsequent investigation found the original claim to be a result of miscommunication.
When
President Bush came to the end of his second term in 2009, a VC-25 was used to transport him to Texas. For this purpose the craft was called Special Air Mission 28000, as the aircraft did not carry the current President of the United States. Similar arrangements were made for former Presidents
Ronald Reagan and
Bill Clinton.
On 27 April 2009, a low-flying VC-25 circled
New York City for a
photo-op and
training exercise and caused a scare for many in New York.
Fallout from the
photo op incident led to the resignation of the director of the
White House Military Office.
The VC-25As are expected to be replaced, as they have become less cost-effective to operate. The USAF
Air Mobility Command has been charged with looking into possible replacements, including the new
Boeing 747-8 and the
EADS Airbus A380.
On 7 January 2009, the
Air Force Materiel Command issued a new requirement for a replacement aircraft to enter service beginning in 2017.
On 28 January 2009,
EADS announced they would not bid on the program, leaving Boeing the sole bidder, with either their Boeing 747-8 or
Boeing 787 being proposed.
Other presidential aircraft
United Airlines was the only commercial airline to have operated
Executive One, the designation given to a civilian flight on which the U.S. President is aboard. On 26 December 1973, then-President
Richard Nixon flew as a passenger aboard a
Washington Dulles to
Los Angeles International flight. It was explained by his staff that this was done in order to conserve fuel by not having to fly the usual
Boeing 707 Air Force aircraft.
In November 1999, President
Bill Clinton flew from Ankara, Turkey, to
Cengiz Topel Naval Air Station outside Izmit, Turkey, aboard a marked C-20C (
Gulfstream III) using the call sign "Air Force One", escorted by three F-16s.
On 8 March 2000, President
Bill Clinton flew to Pakistan aboard an unmarked
Gulfstream III while another aircraft with the call sign "Air Force One" flew on the same route a few minutes later. This diversion was reported by several U.S. press outlets.
In May 2009, President
Barack Obama took the first lady on a date to New York City in a
Gulfstream 500.
On 16 July 2010, the Obama family flew to
Maine for vacation in a Gulfstream III painted in presidential colors.
The president also flies in
Marine One helicopters operated by the U.S. Marine Corps.
