The United States government has maintained a variety of vehicles for the president. Because of the president's role as commander-in-chief, military transports are exclusively used for international travel; however, the civilian Secret Service operates the president's motorcade.
Since 1953 whenever the president is on board a military flight its call sign is the name of the armed service followed by the word "One". Thus Air Force One, Army One, Coast Guard One, Marine One, Navy One, and Space Force One. [1] However, only the Air Force and Marine Corps actively maintain aircraft for the commander-in-chief, and as of November 20,2024 [update] , the president has never flown in either a Coast Guard or Space Force aircraft or spacecraft. If the president uses a civilian airplane, it is designated Executive One. [1]
The presidential state car is a limousine called Cadillac One or The Beast which is operated by the Secret Service. There are at least ten limousines. There is also a bus unofficially called Ground Force One officially called Stagecoach, while the president is aboard, which is operated by the Secret Service.
Four presidential carriages were built by the H & C Studebaker blacksmith shop, the predecessor of the Studebaker Corporation; one of these carried Lincoln to the Ford's Theatre the night of his assassination. [2] All four carriages are on permanent display at the Studebaker National Museum located in South Bend, Indiana. The carriages were used by Presidents Ulysses S. Grant, Benjamin Harrison, Abraham Lincoln and William McKinley. [3]
A number of presidents have traveled by rail. A private railroad car was the equivalent of a private jet today, with the first executive coach built exclusively for the president, a deep maroon painted car named the United States', [4] completed during Lincoln's term. Wary of the optics such opulence signaled in the aftermath of the Civil War, Lincoln never got the opportunity to enjoy the deluxe accommodations while alive, however it would take Lincoln on his final journey, a slow circuitous trip from Washington, D.C., to Springfield, Illinois, with the remains of his son Willie in a funeral train, retracing the route of his inaugural journey in 1861. [5]
Late 19th and early 20th century presidents would use trains to campaign and travel across the country much as presidents use Air Force One today, conducting whistle stop tours to personally reach voters across the country.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt made extensive use of the railroad in his campaign in 1933, and traveled across the country during World War 2 aboard U.S. Car No. 1, a train composed of the Ferdinand Magellan executive car, a converted hospital car with high-tech radio gear installed for communications, a baggage car to carry the Sunshine Special and other support vehicles, and other cars to accommodate press and the secret service. [6]
The Ferdinand Magellan was a Pullman Company business car pulled from charter service, armor plated, and rebuilt into living quarters and office for FDR in 1941. It is currently on static display at the Gold Coast Railroad Museum in Miami-Dade County, Florida. The Ferdinand Magellan was last used by President Ronald Reagan, who used the coach during his re-election campaign in 1984.
The Georgia 300 is a privately owned rail car that has been used by several presidents during whistle stop campaign tours. Georgia 300 has hosted Presidents George H. W. Bush, [7] Bill Clinton, [8] [9] and Barack Obama. [10]
George H. W. Bush was the first president to travel by train as part of his funeral arrangements in almost 50 years, traveling aboard Union Pacific 4141, an EMD SD70ACe which had been painted in Air Force One livery and named in his honor in 2005. The last president to have a funeral train was Dwight D. Eisenhower, who made his final journey from Washington D.C. to his hometown in Abilene, Kansas, where he was laid to rest in 1969. [11]
Current President Joe Biden frequently made use of commercial Amtrak service to commute between Washington D.C. and his home in Delaware during his time as senator, and briefly campaigned via train in Ohio and Pennsylvania. However, as of November 2024 [update] , he has not continued the tradition of presidential railcars during his presidency. [12] During his surprise visit to Ukraine on 21 February 2023, he traveled in a revamped private carriage of the Ukrainian Railways Service dubbed 'Rail Force One'. [13] [14]
From 1880 to 1977 several commissioned Navy ships served as presidential yachts, however this practice was halted during the Carter administration. The table below lists the name of each of these ships and the years in which it did so.
| Name | Served from | Served until | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| USS Despatch (1873) | 1880 | 1891 | |
| USS Dolphin (PG-24) | 1897 | 1897 | The Dolphin, Sylph and Mayflower shared duty as the presidential yacht from 1897 to 1929. |
| USS Sylph (PY-5) | 1902 | 1921 | |
| USS Mayflower (PY-1) | 1905 | 1929 | |
| USS Sequoia (AG-23) | 1933 | 1936 | The Sequoia served two terms as presidential yacht: 1933–1936 and 1969–1977 |
| USS Potomac (AG-25) | 1936 | 1945 | |
| USS Williamsburg (AGC-369) | 1945 | 1953 | |
| USS Sequoia (AG-23) | 1969 | 1977 | The Sequoia served two terms as presidential yacht: 1933–1936 and 1969–1977 |
The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces.
Air Force One is the official air traffic control-designated call sign for a United States Air Force aircraft carrying the president of the United States. The term is commonly used to denote U.S. Air Force aircraft modified and used to transport the president, and as a metonym for the primary presidential aircraft, VC-25, although it can be used to refer to any Air Force aircraft the president travels on.
Marine One is the call sign of any United States Marine Corps aircraft carrying the president of the United States. As of 2024, it denotes a presidential transport helicopter operated by Marine Helicopter Squadron One (HMX-1) "Nighthawks", consisting of either the large new VH-92A Patriot and smaller VH-60N "White Hawk". Both helicopters are called "White Tops" because of their livery. Any Marine Corps aircraft carrying the vice president of the United States without the president has the call sign Marine Two.
The Boeing VC-25 is a military version of the Boeing 747 airliner, modified for presidential transport and commonly operated by the United States Air Force (USAF) as Air Force One, the call sign of any U.S. Air Force aircraft carrying the president of the United States.
A whistle stop or whistle-stop tour is a style of political campaigning where the politician makes a series of brief appearances or speeches at a number of small towns over a short period of time. Originally, whistle-stop appearances were made from the open platform of an observation car or a private railroad car.
After Abraham Lincoln was assassinated on April 14, 1865, a three-week series of events was held to mourn the death and memorialize the life of the 16th president of the United States. Funeral services, a procession, and a lying in state were first held in Washington, D.C., then a funeral train transported Lincoln's remains 1,654 miles (2,662 km) through seven states for burial in Springfield, Illinois. Never exceeding 20 mph, the train made several stops in principal cities and state capitals for processions, orations, and additional lyings in state. Many Americans viewed the train along the route and participated in associated ceremonies.
Executive One is the call sign designated for any United States civil aircraft when the president of the United States is on board. Typically, the president flies in military aircraft that are under the command of the Presidential Airlift Group, which include Air Force One, Marine One, Army One, Navy One and Coast Guard One.
The Ferdinand Magellan is a former Pullman Company private car that served as Presidential Rail Car, U.S. Number 1 from 1943 until 1958. It is named after the Portuguese explorer. The current owner, Gold Coast Railroad Museum in Miami-Dade County, Florida, acquired it in 1959. The Ferdinand Magellan was designated a National Historic Landmark by the United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service on February 4, 1985.
The United States presidential state car is the official state car of the president of the United States. Since its introduction in 2018, the currently employed custom Cadillac known as "The Beast" is widely regarded as the most heavily fortified automobile in the world.
A private railroad car, private railway coach, private car, or private varnish is a railroad passenger car either originally built or later converted for service as a business car for private individuals. A private car could be added to the make-up of a train or pulled by a private locomotive, providing privacy for its passengers. They were used by railroad officials and dignitaries as business cars, and wealthy people for travel and entertainment, especially in the United States. They were sometimes used by politicians in "whistle stop campaigns". Pay cars with less opulent sleeping and dining facilities were used by a paymaster and assistants to transport and disburse cash wages to railway employees in remote locations without banking facilities.
A funeral train carries a coffin or coffins (caskets) to a place of interment by railway. Funeral trains today are often reserved for leaders, national heroes, or government officials, as part of a state funeral, but in the past were sometimes the chief means of transporting coffins and mourners to graveyards. Many modern era funeral trains are hauled by operationally restored steam locomotives, due to the more romantic image of the steam train against more modern diesel or electric locomotives, although non-steam powered funeral trains have been used.
On December 26, 2006, Gerald Ford, the 38th president of the United States, died at his home in Rancho Mirage, California at 6:45 p.m. local time. At 8:49 p.m. local time, his wife of 58 years, Betty Ford, issued a statement announcing his death. The causes of death listed on the death certificate were arteriosclerotic cerebrovascular disease and diffuse arteriosclerosis.
SAM 27000 was the second of two Boeing VC-137C United States Air Force aircraft that were specifically configured and maintained for the use of the president of the United States. It used the call sign Air Force One when the president was on board, and at other times it used the call sign SAM 27000, with SAM indicating 'Special Air Mission.' The VC-137C serial number 72-7000 was a customized version of the Boeing 707 which entered service during the Nixon administration in 1972. It served all US presidents until George W. Bush and was retired in 2001. It is now on display at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.
The first inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th president of the United States took place on Tuesday, January 20, 2009, at the West Front of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. The 56th inauguration, which set a record attendance for any event held in the city, marked the commencement of the first term of Barack Obama as president and Joe Biden as vice president. Based on combined attendance numbers, television viewership, and Internet traffic, it was one of the most-observed events ever by the global audience at the time.
The Georgia 300 is a privately owned railroad car owned by John H. "Jack" Heard of Florida. It has been used by several recent presidents for various campaign related Whistle Stop Tours.
The United States Air Force Special Air Mission provides air transportation for the president of the United States (POTUS), vice president of the United States (VPOTUS), first lady of the United States (FLOTUS), presidential Cabinet, U.S. congressional delegations (CODELs), and other high-ranking American and foreign dignitaries.
In the United States, state funerals are the official funerary rites conducted by the federal government in the nation's capital, Washington, D.C., that are offered to a sitting or former president, a president-elect, high government officials and other civilians who have rendered distinguished service to the nation. Administered by the Military District of Washington (MDW), a command unit of the Joint Force Headquarters National Capital Region, state funerals are greatly influenced by protocol, steeped in tradition, and rich in history. However, the overall planning as well as the decision to hold a state funeral, is largely determined by a president and their family.
On November 30, 2018, George H. W. Bush, the 41st president of the United States, died from vascular Parkinson's syndrome at his home in Houston, Texas. Bush was the first former U.S. president to die in nearly 12 years since Gerald Ford in late 2006. At the age of 94 years, 171 days, Bush was the longest-lived U.S. president in history at the time of his death, a record that was surpassed by Jimmy Carter on March 22, 2019; both were born in the same year (1924).
