The history and shenanigans that really happened on Air Force One
By Thom Patterson, CNN
Updated 1344 GMT (2144 HKT) February 29, 2016
10 photos: Codename SAM 26000
The president's brother, Attorney General Robert Kennedy, was anxious to board the plane after it arrived. Shown here with the first lady, RFK "leaped up" the airline stairs in a rush to console Mrs. Kennedy, according to historian Steven Gillon. He "pushed his way down" the aisle past President Johnson "without saying a word." Johnson "fumed that Kennedy would board the plane without even acknowledging him," Gillon wrote in "The Kennedy Assassination, 24 Hours After."
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10 photos: Codename SAM 26000
President Johnson is seen here meeting with Sens. Mike Mansfield, left, and J. William Fulbright, far right. All presidents aboard Air Force One used it to multitask. For example, at a 1964 campaign stop, LBJ gave an impromptu press conference on the plane while he changed clothes.
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10 photos: Codename SAM 26000
In 1972, SAM 26000 ferried President Richard Nixon to Beijing on a groundbreaking mission to open U.S. relations with the People's Republic of China. The aircraft was welcomed by a 350-man Chinese military honor guard.
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10 photos: Codename SAM 26000
In 1981, Nixon and fellow ex-presidents Gerald Ford, left, and Jimmy Carter, right, flew SAM 26000 to the funeral of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat. (Also attending: former first lady Rosalynn Carter.) They felt "somewhat ill at ease" together, wrote Carter years later. Then Nixon "surprisingly eased the tension," Carter recalled. The men bonded. The trip resulted in a long friendship between bitter election rivals Carter and Ford.
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10 photos: Codename SAM 26000
Many aviation enthusiasts, aircraft geeks and history buffs see the jet as a national treasure. As Vice President Al Gore put it when he last boarded it in 1998: "If history itself had wings, it probably would be this very aircraft."
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10 photos: Codename SAM 26000
This Boeing VC-137C is the first custom-built jet to serve as Air Force One. Codenamed Special Air Mission -- or SAM -- 26000, the airliner witnessed more presidential history than any other -- ranging from the tragic to the hilarious. It sits in the Presidential Gallery at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force in Dayton, Ohio.
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10 photos: Codename SAM 26000
SAM 26000 may be "the most important historical airplane in the world," said Air Force historian Jeff Underwood. It supported a mission to open U.S relations with China and flew to secret Paris peace talks during the Vietnam War. But it's probably most closely tied to President John F. Kennedy, who first used it in 1962.
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10 photos: Codename SAM 26000
First lady Jacqueline Kennedy and the president exit SAM 26000 in Texas in November 1963, just hours before the president would be assassinated. Five months earlier, the plane had flown Kennedy to Berlin, where he delivered his historic "I am a Berliner" address.
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10 photos: Codename SAM 26000
This is likely the most famous photograph ever taken aboard any presidential aircraft. Hours after the attack -- and shortly before SAM 26000 left Dallas -- Vice President Lyndon Johnson was sworn in as president with the first lady at his side. Federal Judge Sarah Hughes administered the oath, the only woman ever to do so.
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10 photos: Codename SAM 26000
At Andrews Air Force Base outside Washington, the president's casket was offloaded onto an ambulance from SAM 26000, where it had been placed in the rear of the cabin. "The crew didn't want President Kennedy's casket to travel in the cargo hold," said then-flight engineer Joe Chappell on C-SPAN in 1998. "So they made room for it in the passenger compartment." To create the extra space, Chappell said he helped remove two rows of seats and a separating wall.
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10 photos: Codename SAM 26000
The president's brother, Attorney General Robert Kennedy, was anxious to board the plane after it arrived. Shown here with the first lady, RFK "leaped up" the airline stairs in a rush to console Mrs. Kennedy, according to historian Steven Gillon. He "pushed his way down" the aisle past President Johnson "without saying a word." Johnson "fumed that Kennedy would board the plane without even acknowledging him," Gillon wrote in "The Kennedy Assassination, 24 Hours After."
Hide Caption
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10 photos: Codename SAM 26000
President Johnson is seen here meeting with Sens. Mike Mansfield, left, and J. William Fulbright, far right. All presidents aboard Air Force One used it to multitask. For example, at a 1964 campaign stop, LBJ gave an impromptu press conference on the plane while he changed clothes.
Hide Caption
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10 photos: Codename SAM 26000
In 1972, SAM 26000 ferried President Richard Nixon to Beijing on a groundbreaking mission to open U.S. relations with the People's Republic of China. The aircraft was welcomed by a 350-man Chinese military honor guard.
Hide Caption
8 of 10
10 photos: Codename SAM 26000
In 1981, Nixon and fellow ex-presidents Gerald Ford, left, and Jimmy Carter, right, flew SAM 26000 to the funeral of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat. (Also attending: former first lady Rosalynn Carter.) They felt "somewhat ill at ease" together, wrote Carter years later. Then Nixon "surprisingly eased the tension," Carter recalled. The men bonded. The trip resulted in a long friendship between bitter election rivals Carter and Ford.
Hide Caption
9 of 10
10 photos: Codename SAM 26000
Many aviation enthusiasts, aircraft geeks and history buffs see the jet as a national treasure. As Vice President Al Gore put it when he last boarded it in 1998: "If history itself had wings, it probably would be this very aircraft."
Hide Caption
10 of 10
10 photos: Codename SAM 26000
This Boeing VC-137C is the first custom-built jet to serve as Air Force One. Codenamed Special Air Mission -- or SAM -- 26000, the airliner witnessed more presidential history than any other -- ranging from the tragic to the hilarious. It sits in the Presidential Gallery at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force in Dayton, Ohio.
Hide Caption
1 of 10
10 photos: Codename SAM 26000
SAM 26000 may be "the most important historical airplane in the world," said Air Force historian Jeff Underwood. It supported a mission to open U.S relations with China and flew to secret Paris peace talks during the Vietnam War. But it's probably most closely tied to President John F. Kennedy, who first used it in 1962.
Hide Caption
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10 photos: Codename SAM 26000
First lady Jacqueline Kennedy and the president exit SAM 26000 in Texas in November 1963, just hours before the president would be assassinated. Five months earlier, the plane had flown Kennedy to Berlin, where he delivered his historic "I am a Berliner" address.
Hide Caption
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10 photos: Codename SAM 26000
This is likely the most famous photograph ever taken aboard any presidential aircraft. Hours after the attack -- and shortly before SAM 26000 left Dallas -- Vice President Lyndon Johnson was sworn in as president with the first lady at his side. Federal Judge Sarah Hughes administered the oath, the only woman ever to do so.
Hide Caption
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10 photos: Codename SAM 26000
At Andrews Air Force Base outside Washington, the president's casket was offloaded onto an ambulance from SAM 26000, where it had been placed in the rear of the cabin. "The crew didn't want President Kennedy's casket to travel in the cargo hold," said then-flight engineer Joe Chappell on C-SPAN in 1998. "So they made room for it in the passenger compartment." To create the extra space, Chappell said he helped remove two rows of seats and a separating wall.
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Story highlights
Air Force One SAM 26000 has seen more history than just about any other aircraft
It flew President John F. Kennedy's body from Dallas, flew Nixon to China and carried Queen Elizabeth II
President Lyndon Johnson spoke to reporters aboard the plane while getting dressed
(CNN)There he was, the leader of the free world, President Lyndon Baines Johnson, aboard Air Force One standing in front of reporters, naked as a jaybird.
To be fair, it was a hot, sunny day.
Johnson, who wasn't a shy man, had just finished delivering a stump speech during his 1964 presidential election campaign.
He'd invited White House reporter Frank Cormier and two colleagues to an impromptu news conference in the presidential quarters, according to Cormier's 1977 book, "LBJ: The Way He Was."
CNN's "Race For The White House," narrated by Kevin Spacey
It's not every day that the president of the United States takes off his shirt and pants while answering your questions about the economy.
As Cormier described it, Johnson "shucked off his underwear." Then, as if nothing unusual were going on, the President continued talking to the reporters while "standing buck naked and waving his towel for emphasis."
Related story: First Air Force One wastes away in desert
No big deal. Just another day on Air Force One.
The plane that was carrying Johnson and the reporters that day was special. "A person could justify that it's the most important historical airplane in the world," Air Force historian Jeff Underwood said in 2013. The Air Force gave it the code name Special Air Mission (SAM) 26000.
Why so historic?
In a nutshell, a lot of history has taken place aboard that airplane.
A president was sworn in aboard it
Less than a year before his memorable interview, Johnson had become president aboard the very same airplane.
It was November 22, 1963 -- a date millions of Americans remember well -- when Johnson was sworn in just hours after President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas.
He was sworn in by U.S. District Judge Sarah T. Hughes, the only woman ever to swear in a U.S. commander in chief.
It flew JFK's body from Dallas to Washington
6 photos: Photos: John F. Kennedy's funeral
John F. Kennedy's funeral – John F. Kennedy's flag-draped casket lies in state in Washington.
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6 photos: Photos: John F. Kennedy's funeral
John F. Kennedy's funeral – A horse-drawn caisson bears the body of President John F. Kennedy into Arlington National Cemetery.
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6 photos: Photos: John F. Kennedy's funeral
John F. Kennedy's funeral – John F. Kennedy's widow, Jacqueline Kennedy, and brother Robert Kennedy attend his funeral at Arlington National Cemetery. See the complete gallery of photos at LIFE.com.
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6 photos: Photos: John F. Kennedy's funeral
John F. Kennedy's funeral – On November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated while in a presidential motorcade in Dallas. Pictured, Kennedy's widow, Jacqueline Kennedy, children, Caroline and John, and mother, Rose Kennedy, behind, wait outside St. Matthew's Cathedral for the procession to the cemetery during his funeral on November 25.
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6 photos: Photos: John F. Kennedy's funeral
John F. Kennedy's funeral – On November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated while in a presidential motorcade in Dallas. Pictured, Kennedy's widow, Jacqueline Kennedy, children, Caroline and John, and mother, Rose Kennedy, behind, wait outside St. Matthew's Cathedral for the procession to the cemetery during his funeral on November 25.
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6 photos: Photos: John F. Kennedy's funeral
John F. Kennedy's funeral – Kennedy's flag-draped casket lies in state in Washington.
Hide Caption
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6 photos: Photos: John F. Kennedy's funeral
John F. Kennedy's funeral – John F. Kennedy's flag-draped casket lies in state in Washington.
Hide Caption
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6 photos: Photos: John F. Kennedy's funeral
John F. Kennedy's funeral – A horse-drawn caisson bears the body of President John F. Kennedy into Arlington National Cemetery.
Hide Caption
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6 photos: Photos: John F. Kennedy's funeral
John F. Kennedy's funeral – John F. Kennedy's widow, Jacqueline Kennedy, and brother Robert Kennedy attend his funeral at Arlington National Cemetery. See the complete gallery of photos at LIFE.com.
Hide Caption
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6 photos: Photos: John F. Kennedy's funeral
John F. Kennedy's funeral – On November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated while in a presidential motorcade in Dallas. Pictured, Kennedy's widow, Jacqueline Kennedy, children, Caroline and John, and mother, Rose Kennedy, behind, wait outside St. Matthew's Cathedral for the procession to the cemetery during his funeral on November 25.
Hide Caption
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6 photos: Photos: John F. Kennedy's funeral
John F. Kennedy's funeral – On November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated while in a presidential motorcade in Dallas. Pictured, Kennedy's widow, Jacqueline Kennedy, children, Caroline and John, and mother, Rose Kennedy, behind, wait outside St. Matthew's Cathedral for the procession to the cemetery during his funeral on November 25.
Hide Caption
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6 photos: Photos: John F. Kennedy's funeral
John F. Kennedy's funeral – Kennedy's flag-draped casket lies in state in Washington.
Hide Caption
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With a newly sworn-in President Johnson aboard, Kennedy's widow, Jacqueline, accompanied the former President's body, which was in a casket that had been placed in the rear of the aircraft.
A portion of the plane's wall had to be cut away to make room.
A few days after SAM 26000 landed in Washington, the aircraft performed a high-speed flyover at Kennedy's funeral at Arlington National Cemetery.
It flew Nixon on his historic mission to China
In 1972, the first meeting between leaders of China and the United States opened the door to diplomatic relations between the two nations, eventually giving Washington geopolitical leverage during arms treaty negotiations with the Soviet Union.
It flew three former presidents simultaneously to Egypt
In 1981, SAM 26000 flew former Presidents Nixon, Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford to the funeral of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat.
They felt "somewhat ill at ease," Carter wrote years later. And they certainly had their reasons -- especially Carter and Ford. Just five years earlier, Carter, a Democrat, had delivered a stinging election defeat to the GOP's Ford. Tension also ran high among staffers aboard the flight. They endured long waits to use the lavatories and got upset about who received bigger cuts of steak at dinner, according to author Ronald Kessler.
Then Nixon "surprisingly eased the tension" with "courtesy, eloquence and charm," Carter revealed in a memoir. Aboard SAM 26000, the two former enemies developed a camaraderie and then a friendship, wrote historian Douglas Brinkley.
Royal visit and presidential deaths
The plane also flew Britain's Queen Elizabeth II around the United States during her visit in 1983. It carried LBJ's body after his death in 1973, and after Nixon's death in 1994, it ferried his casket home to California.
Where you can see it
SAM 26000 is on display at the Museum of the U.S. Air Force.
Folks who are used to seeing the president fly on giant 747s might be surprised about the relatively small SAM 26000. It seats only about 40 passengers. A military version of a Boeing 707, it's a narrow-body, single-aisle, four-engine jetliner.
The plane is now on display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force near Dayton, Ohio, and you can walk down the aisle and look through plexiglass to see the office where the commander in chief took phone calls. You can also see the area where White House staffers worked during long flights.
And, yes, you can see the tiny sleeping quarters where LBJ, um, waved "his towel for emphasis" on that hot day in 1964.
15 photos: U.S. Presidents and Air Force One
President Gerald Ford works while aboard Air Force One in 1974.
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15 photos: U.S. Presidents and Air Force One
President Jimmy Carter waves goodbye as he boards a presidential aircraft on his final day in office in 1981.
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15 photos: U.S. Presidents and Air Force One
President Ronald Reagan throws a football toward the press before boarding Air Force One in 1988.
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15 photos: U.S. Presidents and Air Force One
President George H. W. Bush talks with reporters aboard Air Force One in 1990. The Boeing VC-25 -- a military version of the 747-200B -- served as Air Force One for Bush as well as Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama.
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15 photos: U.S. Presidents and Air Force One
Clinton deplanes Air Force One in Philadelphia in 1996.
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15 photos: U.S. Presidents and Air Force One
President George W. Bush, aboard Air Force One, speaks with Vice President Dick Cheney by phone on September 11, 2001.
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15 photos: U.S. Presidents and Air Force One
Obama steps off Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base in April.
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15 photos: U.S. Presidents and Air Force One
A customized military version of this Boeing 747-8 will serve future Presidents.
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15 photos: U.S. Presidents and Air Force One
Air Force One flies past an American flag on its way into Daytona Beach, Florida, in 2004. The U.S. Air Force announced Wednesday, January 28, that a customized military version of Boeing's 747-8 will serve as Air Force One for future Presidents. Click through to see the different airplanes that have served as the President's transportation over the years.
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15 photos: U.S. Presidents and Air Force One
The Douglas VC-54C, nicknamed "Sacred Cow," is on display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force, near Dayton, Ohio. Sacred Cow served as President Franklin Roosevelt's official transportation to the Yalta Conference in February 1945.
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15 photos: U.S. Presidents and Air Force One
President Harry Truman's official aircraft, the Independence, served as the presidential plane for almost six years until 1953.
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15 photos: U.S. Presidents and Air Force One
A presidential plane named Columbine III ferried Dwight D. Eisenhower, Britain's Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip to Washington in November 1957.
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15 photos: U.S. Presidents and Air Force One
From left, astronaut John Glenn, Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson, and President John F. Kennedy arrive at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in February 1962. Kennedy was the first president to use a customized Boeing VC-137C as Air Force One. The plane was a military version of the Boeing 707. Code-named "SAM 26000," this jet served presidents for more than three decades.
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15 photos: U.S. Presidents and Air Force One
Following Kennedy's assassination, Johnson was sworn in as the President aboard SAM 26000 -- Special Air Mission, tail number 26000.
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15 photos: U.S. Presidents and Air Force One
With Air Force One in the background, President Richard Nixon delivers a speech at Andrews Air Force Base near Washington after returning from his historic trip to China in February 1972.
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15 photos: U.S. Presidents and Air Force One
President Gerald Ford works while aboard Air Force One in 1974.
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15 photos: U.S. Presidents and Air Force One
President Jimmy Carter waves goodbye as he boards a presidential aircraft on his final day in office in 1981.
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15 photos: U.S. Presidents and Air Force One
President Ronald Reagan throws a football toward the press before boarding Air Force One in 1988.
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15 photos: U.S. Presidents and Air Force One
President George H. W. Bush talks with reporters aboard Air Force One in 1990. The Boeing VC-25 -- a military version of the 747-200B -- served as Air Force One for Bush as well as Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama.
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15 photos: U.S. Presidents and Air Force One
Clinton deplanes Air Force One in Philadelphia in 1996.
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15 photos: U.S. Presidents and Air Force One
President George W. Bush, aboard Air Force One, speaks with Vice President Dick Cheney by phone on September 11, 2001.
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15 photos: U.S. Presidents and Air Force One
Obama steps off Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base in April.
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15 photos: U.S. Presidents and Air Force One
A customized military version of this Boeing 747-8 will serve future Presidents.
Hide Caption
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15 photos: U.S. Presidents and Air Force One
Air Force One flies past an American flag on its way into Daytona Beach, Florida, in 2004. The U.S. Air Force announced Wednesday, January 28, that a customized military version of Boeing's 747-8 will serve as Air Force One for future Presidents. Click through to see the different airplanes that have served as the President's transportation over the years.
Hide Caption
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15 photos: U.S. Presidents and Air Force One
The Douglas VC-54C, nicknamed "Sacred Cow," is on display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force, near Dayton, Ohio. Sacred Cow served as President Franklin Roosevelt's official transportation to the Yalta Conference in February 1945.
Hide Caption
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15 photos: U.S. Presidents and Air Force One
President Harry Truman's official aircraft, the Independence, served as the presidential plane for almost six years until 1953.
Hide Caption
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15 photos: U.S. Presidents and Air Force One
A presidential plane named Columbine III ferried Dwight D. Eisenhower, Britain's Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip to Washington in November 1957.
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15 photos: U.S. Presidents and Air Force One
From left, astronaut John Glenn, Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson, and President John F. Kennedy arrive at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in February 1962. Kennedy was the first president to use a customized Boeing VC-137C as Air Force One. The plane was a military version of the Boeing 707. Code-named "SAM 26000," this jet served presidents for more than three decades.
Hide Caption
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15 photos: U.S. Presidents and Air Force One
Following Kennedy's assassination, Johnson was sworn in as the President aboard SAM 26000 -- Special Air Mission, tail number 26000.
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15 photos: U.S. Presidents and Air Force One
With Air Force One in the background, President Richard Nixon delivers a speech at Andrews Air Force Base near Washington after returning from his historic trip to China in February 1972.
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15 photos: U.S. Presidents and Air Force One
President Gerald Ford works while aboard Air Force One in 1974.
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